Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's by John Elder Robison

     What a story! If you have anyone in your family, or circle of friends, or even an acquaintance, with Asperger's, you really should read this book.  The author, John, who has Asperger's, explains some of the quirky things people with this diagnosis do and how these things are misinterpreted or punished. He shares his life story in all the trials and humor.

     John's younger brother encouraged him to tell his story to help people understand, first hand, what it is like to live with Asperger's. They shared many experiences over the years, some that his brother helped him navigate.

     John revisits major events in his life and explains what he was actually thinking at the time.  Some heartwrenching experiences. There are highs and lows, but always a better understanding of what the author was dealing with.  

     And in closing, did I say, "You really should read this book!" 

Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo; Lynn Vincent

   

      This book is such an inspiration to me, as a Christian. The main character, Colton, is almost four years old.  He has to have emergency surgery and was clinically dead for a short period of time. Months after the emergency, he starts sharing events of being in heaven, the people he sees, and his experiences there.  He tells his parents about people he met that he didn't even know were part of his family and many other recollections from his experience.
     I highly recommend this book if you want to be encouraged or are struggling with questions of life and making sense of death. It is uplifting and encouraging.

You Need a Budget by Jesse Mecham

     If you have never read a book about personal finance, I STRONGLY recommend this book. It is full of information to help you make a plan for your money in order to build a healthy financial future.
     This is another book I listened to on HOOPLA though due to the nature of the content, including forms to help you get organized and stay organized, you should pair it with the hard copy.
     Jesse's advise is very similar to Dave Ramsey who started the Financial Peace University. Jesse's book is well organized and clearly presented. At only 5 hours in audiobook format, it will be worth your time! 

The Orphan's Tale by Pam Jenoff

     They say that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but I have to say I was really attracted to the book BECAUSE OF the cover picture.  Though I loved the cover, this is a sad story about the lives of two main characters, Noa and Astrid, whose lives intertwine and overlap. It includes the many trials and struggles each woman faced during one of the worst events in history. The book was well written but there were times I felt each of the main characters was being overly dramatic. I didn't think some of the character's actions were true to the character's personality as developed by the writer. It is generally bleak, given the topic.  There is violence and some content not suitable for younger readers.
     I must say I enjoyed using HOOPLA to listen to this story. It has become rather addicting to be able to listen to great stories while I'm busy with tasks that don't require incredible concentration. Sometimes I have to actually pick up the hard copy of the book so I can visualize the trade-off of a rotating pattern of the story being told by various characters.
     It seems like I have listened to several books about the holocaust lately, though I didn't intentionally seek out books about the topic.  I enjoy historical fiction.
 

I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara

     This book was so well researched and written! Having grown up during the time of the Golden State Killer, I often heard stories of his latest victims on the radio.  It was especially interesting to learn details of the years-long investigations into these tragic events.
     The author spent years of her life investigating, collecting information, working with detectives, pouring over notes from past investigations, interviewing victims, and following up on theories to collect the material for this book. She was a "true crime journalist". Michelle even created the website: TrueCrimeDiary.com.
     Though Michelle spent years writing this book, she was not quite finished when she died unexpectantly, at the age of 46, in her sleep. Her husband, Patton Oswalt, worked along with two other men she worked with; Billy Jensen and Paul Haynes, to complete the book. The book was published in February of 2018, almost two years after Michelle's death.  I wish the author could have been alive to see this crime solved.     
     At the time of her death, the killer had not yet been caught. He was charged in August of 2018. He was a U.S. Navy veteran and a former police officer.
     If you like real-life mysteries, you will find this book interesting.
   
   

Let Me Go by Helga Schneider

     This book is available on HOOPLA from Christian County Library. You can sign in with your Christian County Library.  They have a large collection of teen audiobooks.
     This book takes place during WWII. It is about a girl whose mother joins the German SS. The mother abandons her young children with hopes of serving in one of the concentration camps. She actually wants to help eliminate Jewish people from the face of the earth.
     The story is told from the point of view of the daughter who has not seen her mother in over 30 years. She received a message about her mother's condition and feels forced by her cousin to visit her mother.  Some of the content is quite disturbing in places as the mother recounts the gas chambers and her job of sending people to the gas chambers.
     The book has a lot of repetition of various events. Though wrongs were done to the daughter as a young girl, it seems she became a bitter old woman.  This was not one of my favorite books.

The Tatooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

This a beautifully written story of love, hate, war, the struggle to survive, the worst of humanity, and the best of humanity. It is the story of Lale Sokolov who was a Jewish man from Slovak. He was imprisoned by the Germans and assigned the job of tattooing each prisoner who comes to the camp.  The book tells the story of everything that happened to him during this time and introduces the reader to the love of his life, Gita.  

He requested that the author come and visit with him so he could tell his story before he died.  The author did a wonderful job of honoring Lale and all the others Lale told about by writing this moving story of their lives.

This is a must read!