Books Read in July

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As good or better than her WWII books. The characters, a lot of them, jump off the page and are very well constructed to seem real. Even though there were a lot of characters, the way they were presented made it easy to keep track of them, and their place in the story.
This may be the best book so far this year. The period of time that it covers and the views that you get from the perspective of the characters was incredible. I won't tell my friends what its about because they should discover these characters and this story themselves. I hope you will.

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Shanghai by Joseph Kanon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Just a brilliant book. Where did jews go when they were kicked out of Germany in the thirties? Places that did not require visas. One of these was Shanghai, the location of this novel from Joseph Kanon. The characters are as real and emotionally tortured as one might imagine. Leaving their homes and often their livelyhoods. Always leaving their wealth behind because the Nazis would not allow it to leave the Reich.
What was Shanghai like? In some ways a lot like Germany. This tells a story that I had only heard about. This book gets down to the nitty gritty of what a lawless society is like and how people learn to cope.
What a special, magnificent piece of writing. I am in awe of Joseph Kanon's skill as a storyteller.
Read it.

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