July’s Book Haul 2021

This week there was a book fair that takes place annually; in fact, it ends today, the 25th. I try not to go because I fear that I will buy more books than I can afford. However, I’ve been good and haven’t bought books in ages. On the other hand, lately, my sister got into reading once she found the genre she likes. So, she wanted to go, and I went along with her, since every book was 2.99. I bought six books for a total of 18 euros.

The only book I bought and knew about is The Twins of Auschwitz by Eva Mozes Kor, Lisa Rojany Buccieri. I have watched documentaries about Eva and her twin on YouTube. When it came out last year, I tried to read it but couldn’t find it on the sites I look for books on. Thankfully my sister read the blurbs for me because I couldn’t. The lighting there was pretty bad, and I had had a stressful day at work which triggers my dyslexia.

The Twins of Auschwitz
by Eva Mozes Kor, Lisa Rojany Buccieri

Goodreads Blurb:

The Nazis spared their lives because they were twins.

In the summer of 1944, Eva Mozes Kor and her family arrived at Auschwitz.

Within thirty minutes, they were separated. Her parents and two older sisters were taken to the gas chambers, while Eva and her twin, Miriam, were herded into the care of the man who became known as the Angel of Death: Dr. Josef Mengele. They were 10 years old.

While twins at Auschwitz were granted the ‘privileges’ of keeping their own clothes and hair, they were also subjected to Mengele’s sadistic medical experiments. They were forced to fight daily for their own survival and many died as a result of the experiments, or from the disease and hunger rife in the concentration camp.

In a narrative told simply, with emotion and astonishing restraint, The Twins of Auschwitz shares the inspirational story of a child’s endurance and survival in the face of truly extraordinary evil.

Also included is an epilogue on Eva’s incredible recovery and her remarkable decision to publicly forgive the Nazis. Through her museum and her lectures, she dedicated her life to giving testimony on the Holocaust, providing a message of hope for people who have suffered, and worked toward goals of forgiveness, peace, and the elimination of hatred and prejudice in the world.

The Girl in the Red Coat
by Kate Hamer

She is the missing girl. But she doesn’t know she’s lost.

Carmel Wakeford becomes separated from her mother at a local children’s festival, and is found by a man who claims to be her estranged grandfather. He tells her that her mother has had an accident and that she is to live with him for now. As days become weeks with her new family, 8-year-old Carmel realises that this man believes she has a special gift…

While her mother desperately tries to find her, Carmel embarks on an extraordinary journey, one that will make her question who she is – and who she might become.

Did You See Melody?
by Sophie Hannah

Goodreads Blurb:

Pushed to breaking point, Cara Burrows abandons her home and family and escapes to a five-star spa resort she can’t afford. Late at night, exhausted and desperate, she lets herself into her hotel room and is shocked to find it already occupied – by a man and a teenage girl.

A simple mistake on the part of the hotel receptionist – but Cara’s fear intensifies when she works out that the girl she saw alive and well in the hotel room is someone she can’t possibly have seen: the most famous murder victim in the country, Melody Chapa, whose parents are serving life sentences for her murder.

Cara doesn’t know what to trust: everything she’s read and heard about the case, or the evidence of her own eyes. Did she really see Melody? And is she prepared to ask herself that question and answer it honestly if it means risking her own life?

The Lost Soul
by Rosie Goodwin

Goodreads Blurb:

When a mysterious fire kills her adoptive parents, Madeleine’s worst fear comes true – she and her beloved brother Oliver are separated. Worse still, Maddie is blamed for starting the fire and, labelled a difficult child, she is sent to a children’s home. Far from idyllic, and buried deep in the countryside, the home well conceals the misery of its young occupants. Subjected to a harsh regime of abuse and degradation, Maddie makes a brave attempt to escape. But her brief weeks of freedom are thwarted when she is caught and taken back to River House.
Maddie clings to her determination to one day be reunited with Oli, and it is this which gives her the strength to endure what lies ahead. For she knows she can rely only on herself – there is no one else to keep her safe.

Burning
(Burning)
by Danielle Rollins

Goodreads Blurb:

After three years in juvie, Angela Davis is now months away from release. She’ll finally get the hell out of Brunesfield Correctional Facility.

And then Jessica arrives… she’s young – only ten years old – so why did she arrive in shackles under the highest security? And why is she being kept in segregation? No one knows what she did to end up there. But there are plenty of rumours.

Pretty soon strange things start happening to Angela and her friends. Could they be down to Jessica?

This little girl might just be more dangerous than anyone expected.

The Red Ribbon
by Lucy Adlington

Goodreads Blurb;

Rose, Ella, Marta and Carla. In another life we might have all been friends together. But this was Birchwood.

As fourteen-year-old Ella begins her first day at work she steps into a world of silks, seams, scissors, pins, hems and trimmings. She is a dressmaker, but this is no ordinary sewing workshop. Hers are no ordinary clients. Ella has joined the seamstresses of Birkenau-Auschwitz.

Every dress she makes could be the difference between life and death. And this place is all about survival.

Ella seeks refuge from this reality, and from haunting memories, in her work and in the world of fashion and fabrics. She is faced with painful decisions about how far she is prepared to go to survive.

Is her love of clothes and creativity nothing more than collaboration wth her captors, or is it a means of staying alive?

Will she fight for herself alone, or will she trust the importance of an ever-deepening friendship with Rose?

One thing weaves through the colours of couture gowns and camp mud – a red ribbon, given to Ella as a symbol of hope.

I won’t lie; I don’t know when I will read them because I listen to many books I read. However, I want to read these six books page by page.

Alex