Top Ten Tuesday/ WWII Books I Want To Read

Want to know my weird bookish habit? If I list a group of books in a folder, I read them faster. I guess the act of completing a task does the trick. I wanted to match this week’s prompt with disability representation books, but I didn’t find ten I wanted to read, so I’m switching tomorrow’s post to today’s, hoping it works. I don’t think I will read either list this month since I’m doing the male/male readathon, although I’m cheating a bit there since I have LGBT+ books on my TBR that aren’t male/male.

A few months ago, I did a list of historical fiction set in the WW2 era that I want to use as my guilty pleasure reads. There are 16, but I’m sharing 10. Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by thatartsyreadergirl, which has a new weekly topic.

March 11: Books that Include/Feature [insert your favourite theme or plot device here] (for example, unreliable narrators, coming of age, darkness vs light, time travel, metafiction, a specific romantic trope, good vs evil. Cliffhangers, flashbacks, plot twists, red herrings, loose ends, stories within stories, meet-cutes, symbolism, etc.) (submitted by Alice @ The Wallflower Digest)

Goodreads Blurb:

Berlin, 1939. Tears pouring down her cheeks, Rosa pushes through the crowds and thrusts the basket containing her darling newborn twins at the woman closing the door to the carriage. All she can say is please take them. Then she runs, praying the train will reach England safely…

As the smell of smoke drifts through the air, Jewish people lock their doors. They no longer feel welcome in their home city, and while some mothers hide their children, others take them, clad in dark threadbare coats, to the crowded train station and the hope of a new life.

Rosa has feared for her twins since they were born two weeks ago. As she huddles in her filthy house, crammed in with her neighbours, she sees children growing weaker. It may be too late for her and her seven-year-old daughter Therese. But can she find a way out for her precious babies?

Dora scans the desperate crowd on the platform, despairing as she knows there isn’t room for all of them on the train to England. And when a woman thrusts a basket containing newborn twins into her arms, a shiver of dread slides down her spine. Babies aren’t authorised to travel – how can she keep them hidden from the cold-eyed soldiers?

She knows this mother wants the same thing she does – safety for these innocent children. But will she be able to help this brave woman before it is too late?

Goodreads Blurb:

Maggie’s hands tremble as she lowers her camera, unable to bear the little girl’s haunted eyes pleading at her from behind the gates. This camp is hell on earth. And this roll of film is enough for the Nazis to kill her. But she won’t rest until the world knows the truth…

Germany, 1944: Nazi banners blowing in the wind, Maggie Sullivan takes her first steps into enemy territory. Armed only with a camera and a US press pass, Maggie never backs down from danger. But close to her heart is a secret; one that she can never share. Maggie was born in Germany. Years ago, she and her mother were forced to flee Berlin, leaving her siblings behind. The US Army are Maggie’s protectors for now, but she wakes each night in a cold sweat what will they do if they discover her past?

Every day Maggie works tirelessly to prove the horrifying truth about what Nazis are doing in the camps. But inching closer to the barbed wire, an inscription on an officer’s report grips her with an ice-like fear. Her family’s name. She’s desperate to know more, but it would risk her entire mission. She must save the innocents, even if it means letting the secrets of her own past slip through her fingers…

Goodreads Blurb:

Munich, 1943. My heart breaks as I watch the smug couple carry the tiny bundle into their sinister black limousine. Carefully I write the baby’s name into my secret notebook. No matter the danger, I will do everything I can to reunite him with his mother…

As the darkest shadows of the war spread, nurse Margarete Weiss is sent away to work in a mother and baby home in a beautiful corner of the German countryside. As she approaches the fairy-tale castle with manicured grounds and fair-haired young women laughing in the sunshine, she imagines she will be helping to create a haven for young German mothers to have their children. But when she discovers what is really going on inside the castle walls, she knows she needs to do whatever she can to put a stop to the horror she witnesses, even if it means risking her own life…

Italy, 2005. 90-year-old Margarete sits in her chair in her care home, her hands trembling as she looks into the face of the young reporter, Kristel, sitting in front of her. Kristel’s bright blue eyes and intelligent smile are so familiar, and as Kristel explains she is here to talk to her about the children taken from their mothers during the war, Margarete knows her faded blue notebook with its list of names might hold the answers that Kristel needs.

But as Margarete shares the names with Kristel, her heart beats fast inside her chest. She knows that sharing the truth about those terrible days is the right thing to do, but it also shines a spotlight on her own painful secrets. The notebook will provide Kristel and Margarete with answers… But at what price? And can the two women help each other find the peace they so badly need?

Goodreads Blurb:

Berlin, 1944. ‘It is a great honour to have you here, Herr Hitler.’ Lili doesn’t stumble over the lie, her hand steady as she pours champagne. Everything must be perfect, no one can suspect a thing…

Lili Rodenberg and her husband Marius run the Edel, Berlin’s most glamorous hotel. For its wealthy guests, it is an escape from the destruction outside, with its elegant piano bar and fine amber brandy. But Lili is Jewish, a secret she is terrified will end in tragedy for her and their beloved little girl.

Lili’s only choice is to hide in plain sight, her heart racing each time uniformed officers step through the Edel’s grand entrance. As Berlin becomes a more frightening place, Lili pleads with her husband to help shelter those in danger but Marius is he will not risk the lives of his wife and daughter. Until the day he is called to the front – and goes missing in action.

Left in sole charge of the Edel, a heartbroken Lily fixes her smile as she serves men who would have her killed in an instant if they knew the truth. She decides she must fight back, hiding Jews in the hotel’s wine cellar before moving them to safety. Though she is seized with terror, it gives her the strength to carry on.

But her courage catches the attention of the Resistance. What they ask of her is impossible.

Lili has protected her daughter by living a life full of secrets. Can she risk it all now and put her child in danger for the sake of her country?

Goodreads Blurb:

When German forces invade the Channel Islands and the citizens of Jersey are cut off from the rest of the UK, the islands’ residents bond together to resist the enemy. East London native Helen Bowman was never meant to be here, but when she found herself alone and pregnant her beloved aunt’s home in Jersey was the only place she could go. But now, as the enemy start rounding up anyone not born on the island to be sent to a camp on the continent, Helen is forced to rely on the kindness of strangers, like her new friend Peggy Hamel, to keep herself and her son hidden. But as the Nazis’ net closes in, it’s soon more than just detection that is at stake for Helen and Peggy – it’s their very lives…

Goodreads Blurb:

A WW2 historical novel about a mother’s devotion

In the shadow of the Nazi regime, one woman fights to shield her daughter from the talons of evil.

Paris, 1941. Sarah, a Jewish woman, finds herself trapped in the city with her five-year-old daughter, Rebecca, as World War II rages on. Desperate to escape the tightening grip of Nazi oppression, they attempt to flee to neutral Spain. However, their hopes are shattered as they are captured by the French police and sent to the Drancy internment camp, located north of Paris, where French Jews are being ruthlessly rounded up by the Nazi authorities.

Within the confines of the camp, surrounded by a bleak reality, Sarah strives to preserve Rebecca’s innocence through enchanting tales of a bear and the good hunters who watch over it. Yet, even as she weaves these tales of hope, Sarah must also teach her daughter the harsh lessons of survival and how to defend herself against those who seek to harm them.

As time slips away, it becomes increasingly clear that the Germans are determined to send all the Jews in the camp to a single, horrifying destination – a notorious camp in the East, only whispered about in fearful tones.

With the fate of the trains looming ever closer, Sarah faces an impossible choice. Will she find a way to keep Rebecca safe from the iron grasp of the Nazis, or will their fates be sealed by the cruelty of war?

Goodreads Blurb:

Germany. 1932. Sara Schönflies, a young Jewish woman from a line of gifted tailors and seamstresses, finds her world shattered by the rise of the Nazi regime. Her family is separated when the women are sent to Ravensbrück. Ultimately, Sara and her sisters are transferred to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where their survival hinges on their ability to create sought-after fashions for the wives of SS officers and Nazi dignitaries in the tailoring studio of the camp commander’s wife. Amidst the bleakness and horrors of the camp, Sara’s determination, her sisters’ unyielding defiance, and an unexpected friendship with a member of the Sonderkommando become beacons of hope. From displaced person camps to the distant shores of Palestine, Sara’s journey continues. Her expertise as a seamstress becomes her ticket out of yet another camp, propelling her forward in her relentless pursuit of the man who had once saved her life.

In this gripping tale of survival, sacrifice, sisterhood, and unwavering love, Sara’s indomitable spirit shines through the darkness, turning every stitch into a symbol of defiance and every moment into a testament of the human spirit’s triumph over unimaginable adversity and unspeakable trauma.

Goodreads Blurb:

War thrust them together. Love will tear them apart.

Inspired by a true story…

When the Nazis invade a sleepy Polish town in 1939, Mirek Kozlowski swears to keep everyone in his orphanage safe at all costs. However, despite his struggles and sacrifices, the war drags him and his children deeper and deeper into its violent nightmare.

With 89 children looking to him for hope, Mirek must do whatever it takes to protect them — no matter how criminal, distasteful, or perilous it may be.

And just when he thinks things can’t get any worse, the arrival of a sadistic SS captain brings unspeakable atrocities to his town — and surprisingly, a glimmer of hope for Mirek to save all those he cares about if only he has the courage to grasp it…

A story of love, bravery, and compassion, A Song of Silence explores history’s darkest hour and how, even in the face of overwhelming evil, one man can become a dazzling beacon of light.

Goodreads Blurb:

Poland, 1943. Samuel is only sixteen when he arrives at the somber metal gates of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp. He is forced deep inside the camp with the few remaining survivors from his village. They march past the smoking crematoriums, toward their future, toward their fate. Toward Block 19.

Even at such a young age, the horrors of war are something Samuel knows all too well. Having lived through the liquidation of the Krakow Ghetto, he faced the brutality and cruelty of the Germans, fighting for his survival day by day. But Block 19 would test his bravery and endurance in ways he could never have imagined. Even if he survives, will he ever heal from the deep scars of such darkness?

The Survivor From Block 19 is the incredible true story of Samuel Blumenfeld and his extraordinary, heart-wrenching from a small village in Poland to his survival of the death marches, the labor camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau and a surprising final confrontation with his worst nightmare – Adolf Eichmann himself.

Goodreads Blurb:

At the imposing iron gates of Auschwitz, twenty-one-year-oldHodaya clings to her mama and papa, her little sister Bayla’s arms around her waist. But when Hodaya is sent one way and her parents the other, a plea to keep her sister safe is the last thing in her mother’s eyes. Hodaya makes a silent promise in return.

But Auschwitz is no place for a little girl, and keeping Bayla safe takes every ounce of Hodaya’s strength. She hates watching the spark in her little sister’s eyes dull, and as she hands over her daily rations of watery soup and stale bread to keep Bayla fed, she feels herself weakening by the second. But she vows to find a way out, even if it means sacrificing the young woman she once was.

Admiring the bravery of other prisoners’ revolts and imagining a world in which she joins in, Hodaya battles between her determination to save Bayla and mounting despair. But in the end, it’s the most unlikely person who reminds her to dare to Alaric, a German soldier. As desperate hunger closes in, Alaric draws a parcel of warm food from a satchel and offers it to Hodaya—his expression guarded, blue eyes troubled, but his hand steady.

But can Hodaya trust a stranger, particularly a German? And as sickness takes hold of Bayla, is it already too late to keep her promise to keep Bayla safe—or will the last ounce of hope in her heart lead to an escape from the darkest of places?

Which one would you read? Maybe we can buddy-read it together?

Alex