CPL's Book a Week Challenge discussion

August's Take It or Leave It challenges are below. Do one, do all, do none! It's totally up to you.

1. Book Lovers Day (August 9th) - Read a book about books

2. Family Time - Read a book where family dynamics play a big role

3. Librarian Recommendations - Read a book recommended by a librarian

4. First Language - Read a book translated into English

5. Historical People - Read a fictional account of a historical person

6. Dog Days of Summer - Read a book with a dog on the cover

7. Diversify Your Read - Read a book with a character (or author) of race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. other than your own

1. Book Lovers Day (August 9th) - The Bookshop on the Corner

2. Family Time - The Lost Husband

3. Librarian Recommendations City of Girls

4. First Language - And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer

5. Historical People - American Princess: A Novel of First Daughter Alice Roosevelt

6. Dog Days of Summer - From Baghdad, With Love: A Marine, the War, and a Dog Named Lava

7. Diversify Your Read - Patsy

Family Time-I read "The Women's War" by James Patterson and Shan Serafin. Great book.

Eeek, August will be over in just a few hours and I've yet to post something! Made it just in time! Anyway:

4. First Language - Read a book translated into English

I am reading Giai Phong! The Fall And Liberation Of Saigon by Tiziano Terzani. Terzani was an Italian journalist who, after getting kicked out of South Vietnam in March 1975, managed to sneak back in on April 27th; just a few days later, Saigon would fall to the North Vietnamese, and the country of South Vietnam would cease to exist.
This book was published a year later, though it almost appears as if the English translation hit shelves before the Italian-language version did. (Then again, this subject was probably more relevant to American audiences than in Italy, so that shouldn't be too surprising.)

I haven't been reading as much as I told myself I would, but regardless, it's been very illuminating, and one can (and should!) be thankful such an eyewitness account made it out of the country and into the books. The end of that April were very busy days, yet Terzani was able to gather perspectives from many different kinds of people: the average Saigonese worried about their homes getting hit by North Vietnamese rockets. The political elite of Saigon, so far-removed from reality that they thought a peace deal could still be brokered. Terzani's fellow foreign journalists, holed up in their hotel, scared of what might happen but just as scared (possibly even more so) of evacuating and not bearing witness to it themselves.

Last I left off it was midday of April 29th, 1975: two Marines have become the last Americans to be killed in the Vietnam War, and Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" has signaled the beginning of what might be the largest helicopter evacuation in history. (For those interested and have 45 minutes to spare, there's a fantastic program about the evacuation of Saigon the History Channel made back when they actually lived up to their name. It has some great news footage from the time, and even better interviews with numerous CBS reporters and Marines who helped evacuate the embassy. Definitely worth a watch!)

Anyway, definitely looking to settle back into reading this tonight and over the weekend. I'm also looking forward to next month's discussion topics, and I hope to contribute something then too! (And maybe I'll even be on-time! That'd be something, huh?)

For August, I read:

3. Librarian Recommended: The Good Daughter

4. Translated to English: Beartown

6. Book with a dog on the cover: Another Good Dog: One Family and Fifty Foster Dogs

1) Book Lover's Day- Terns of Endearment by Donna Andrews.
2) Family Time- A Study in Treason by Leonard Goldberg.
6) Dog Days of Summer- Hot Under the Collar by Roxanne St. Claire.
7) In My Skin- by Brittney Griner.

3. Librarian Recommendations: The Gone Dead by Chanelle Benz

6. Dog Days of Summer- A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron

Super late, but here is my list.

1. Ferenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
2. White Hot by Sandra Brown
3. The Last Cowboys by John Branch
4. Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
5. Abe Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Graham-Smith
6. Animal Magnetism by Jill Shalvis
7. Night Song by Beverly Jenkins