Getting through this Harry Potter series is going much faster than I anticipated. With just two books left, I am starting to bulk up my list of what to read next. My bookshelf has been full of books I have been meaning to make time to read and this year is when I will finally do it. Take a sneak peak into the books I plan to read next.
Listed below are a few of the books on my list of what is next. Some new and some old, some you heard of and some you have not. Do you have any recommendations for me? Email mkotelchuck@whatsupmag.com with your most recent read and a quick review about it to be featured!
The Winemaker's Wife by Kristin Harmel: My best friend finished this book and then gave it to me to read. Considering I have never seen her read a book in her life, I know it must be pretty good and worth the read. I love books set in WWII and if it has 'wine' in the name then it is probably a given that I will enjoy it as well. With another view of World Way II in 1940, Inès, who is married to Michel, the owner of storied champagne house Maison Chauveau, sees the real danger of the war when her husband betrays the marriage. Her fears are only magnified when the half-Jewish wife of Chauveau's chef de cave, Céline hears rumors that Jews are being shipped east to an unspeakable fate. This story parallels a separate but related story in the book taking place in 2019 when Liv Kent's eccentric French grandmother shows up unannounced.
The Help by Kathryn Stockett: Now this is one of those older books that I was talking about.Recently, Netflix added The Help (the movie) to their library of entertainment. I recently sat down and watched the movie for the first time and was just absorbed by the story. Again, I know I am late considering the book came out in 2009 and the movie came out just two years later, but I am getting there! This story takes place in Mississippi in the 1960s when Skeeter, the daughter of a wealthy white family who just graduated college with plans to become a writer, puts her first book together using the true stories of household help. There is a lot of danger for African Americans to share these stories, read the book with me to see how Skeeter gains their trust and what the results of the book cause in Jackson, Mississippi.
Chilka's Journey by Heather Morris: Last year, I read The Tattooist of Auschwitz. A great, quick read by Heather Morris about the man who's job was to tattoo new arrivals of Auschwitz and his love story with one of the girls he tattooed. Recently, I found out that this book has a sequel, following another character in the original, Chilka. At 16 years old, Chilka is taken to a Concentration Camp and is found beautiful by the Commandant. When she is eventually released from the camp, Chilka is charged as a collaborator for sleeping with the enemy and sent to a Siberian prison camp. Follow Chilka's brand new struggles in Siberia and see how she finds love when she starts nursing "a man named Ivan".
