Showing posts with label nazi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nazi. Show all posts

Monday, October 7, 2024

White Bird Movie

 


It's impossible to watch this and not be moved deeply. Beautifully filmed, the acting impeccable, so real it's like you're there. Such beauty and such deep love and sorrow. It's about loving people who desperately need help. Know that kindnesses are remembered and how important they are.

Be Brave. Choose Kind. You forget many things in life. But you never forget kindness. WHITE BIRD is a deeply moving coming of-age story and testament to the courage it takes to extend kindness and love during the harshest of times.

• WHITE BIRD is the right story at the right time. From the best-selling author of WONDER, the book that sparked a movement to “choose kind,” comes the inspirational next chapter.
• The importance of faith films. Come out on October 4 and support a film that will 
make a difference.
• Change the way you see the world. Get tickets now. #WhiteBirdMovie – in theaters 
October 4. https://tickets.whitebird.movie/ #BeBraveChooseKind
• Kindness can free you, faith can save you. #WhiteBirdMovie – only in theaters October 4.

Synopsis: From the world of Wonder, which sparked a movement to "choose kind," comes the inspirational next chapter: WHITE BIRD. Struggling to fit in at his new school after being expelled for his treatment of Auggie Pullman, Julian (Bryce Gheisar) is visited by his grandmother (Helen Mirren) and is transformed by the compassionate and heroic story of her attempts to escape Nazi-occupied France during WWII. From the director of Finding Neverland, WHITE BIRD reminds us to be 
brave and choose kind.


Giveaway: $10 Amazon giftcard
(Note: This is limited to US winners only. Please submit your full name and email address by 10/14 in the comments. (Winner will be chosen randomly. You will not be spammed.) We will not be able to accept winners submitted after this date.)

Many thanks to Kingdom Faith Marketing Services for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own.

#WhiteBirdMIN #WhiteBirdMovie #BeBraveChooseKind 

Lionsgate:
Facebook: @Lionsgate
Instagram: @Lionsgate
X: @Lionsgate

White Bird
Facebook: @WhiteBirdMovie
Instagram: @WhiteBirdMovie
X: @WhiteBirdMovie

Kingdom Story Company
Facebook: @KingdomStoryCompany
Instagram: @KingdomStoryCompany
YouTube: @KingdomStoryCompany
X: @KingdomStoryCo

Thursday, March 23, 2023

The Three Lives of Alix St. Pierre by Natasha Lester

 



Quite the book - with a lot of depth. Other than marketing, Alix is so much different than I am that I was truly an observer, watching her work her magic and get results. She is an orphan raised by a wealthy family, like a sister to Lillie. She later becomes a writer for a fashion magazine, in WW2 is recruited to be a spy and goes to Switzerland. It's very interesting to read how things went in her spy world, many based on real facts from the author's research. After the war in Paris, she goes to work for Christian Dior as he comes into the spotlight. A fascinating world. And meets Anthony as she is trying to find a Nazi war criminal who had set her up in her earlier life. She's looking for answers and revenge for the people who were killed after a message she had relayed during the war. She's strong and quite courageous as well as vulnerable. Hard to put down, easy to get fully immersed. Very, very well written. A small amount of bad language throughout that was irritating and I could have done without.

I received this book free from the author, publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

#NetGalley #TheThreeLivesOfAlixStPierre #NatashaLester #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #HistoricalFiction #FiveStarNovel #GrandCentralPublishing

My reviews
Goodreads

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

The Sound of Light by Sarah Sundin

 




1940 Denmark. Exquisite. So hard to put down. Never doubt, Sarah Sundin can write. You know you're engrossed when you start praying for the characters. Who lived 83 years ago. 
Amazing story of Else, a physicist, and Hemming, who is disguised as a shipworker. They both end up doing resistance work and it's all so beautifully entwined and interesting. And dangerous. And meltingly romantic. Gosh I hate to leave them, wish to hear more as their lives go on. The rescue of the Danish Jews is one of the most astonishing and inspiring stories to come out of World War II. The Danes outspokenly refused to allow the oppression of other human beings— and acted on that principle. Neither Else nor Hemming are Jews, but they both sacrifice to save all whom they can. Their resistance must be kept secret for their safety and that of friends and family. Definitely a must read. And leave extra time. Always beautiful covers too.
I received this book free from the author, publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

#NetGalley #TheSoundOfLight #SarahSundin #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #ChristianHistoricalFiction #FiveStarNovel

My reviews
BarnesAndNoble

Thursday, February 23, 2023

The Undercover Secretary by Ellie Midwood

 



BASED ON A TRUE STORY, AN UNPUTDOWNABLE AND HEARTBREAKING WORLD WAR TWO NOVEL
1933 to 1946. This one leaves a scar. It's impossible not to feel torn apart for Dora. An amazing strong, brave woman who learned how to put on a different skin and blend in as needed, while uncovering information with her photographic mind. What a rough road. But she made a big difference in winning the war, at a huge personal cost. Hard to put down. Excellent writing. Clean told. 

I received this book free from the author, publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
#TheUndercoverSecretary #NetGalley #EllieMidwood #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout @bookouture

My reviews

Sunday, February 5, 2023

What I Would Tell You by Liz Tolsma

 




Enriching, inspirational story that can be hard to read. It's heartbreaking. The timeslip format makes it easier with Tessa learning about Mathilda, her family and friends, gradually unfolding the story. Complicated life in 1941 Salonika, Greece, especially after the Nazis took over Greece. Pulls your heart strings right to the end. It's so well written that you forget it's a book, no surprise with Liz Tolsma.

I received this book free from the author, publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

#WhatIWouldTellYou #NetGalley #LizTolsma #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #ChristianHistoricalFiction #christianbooksandcoffee 



About the Book

 


Book: What I Would Tell You

Author: Liz Tolsma

Genre: Christian Fiction / Romance / Historical Fiction

Release date: January 1, 2023

DNA Test Unlocks a Family Mystery

Sephardic Jew Mathilda Nissim watches in horror as the Germans invade her beloved city of Salonika, Greece. What angers her most is the lack of resistance her people put up to their captors. In secret and at great risk to her life, she continues to publish her newspaper, calling her people to action. She doesn’t trust God to help them. When she and her husband find out they are expecting a child, Mathilda may have to resort to desperate measures to ensure her daughter’s survival.

Three generations later, college student Riley Payson and her cousin take a popular DNA test only to discover they don’t share any common ancestors. In fact, the test shows Riley is a Sephardic Jew from Greece. This revelation shakes Riley’s tenuous faith and sends her on a journey to discover what happened to her great-grandmother and how all this relates to her faith and her life today.

 

Click here to get your copy!

 

About the Author


Liz Tolsma is the author of several WWII novels, romantic suspense novels, prairie romance novellas, and an Amish romance. She is a popular speaker and an editor and resides next to a Wisconsin farm field with her husband and their youngest daughter. Her son is a US Marine, and her oldest daughter is a college student. Liz enjoys reading, walking, working in her large perennial garden, kayaking, and camping. Please visit her website at www.liztolsma.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter (@LizTolsma), Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest. She is also the host of the Christian Historical Fiction Talk podcast.

 

More from Liz

Take a Trip to Greece with Me

I was privileged to travel to Greece last year to research my upcoming WWII novel, What I Would Tell You. God orchestrated it so beautifully. Because of Covid, we weren’t sure my daughter would be able to travel there for the summer internship she had applied for. Eight weeks before her scheduled departure, Greece reopened to foreign visitors. Around that same time, I sold What I Would Tell You, which is set in Thessaloniki, Greece, to Barbour Publishing. I had to go and visit!

 

Greece is a beautiful country. The pictures you see don’t do it justice. And to someone like me, the history is one of the best parts. My daughter and I explored the old city wall, built in the 1400s, many churches that predated the Ottoman Empire, and many excavated Roman ruins that have been dug up in the city’s process of putting in a subway system.

 

Because this is a WWII book, we also spent a great deal of time learning about the history of the Jews in the city. The Kapani Market, just down the street from our apartment, was a vibrant mix of colorful fruits, fragrant spices, and a cacophony of languages. I could well imagine what this old Jewish market was like prior to the war with people hawking olives, fish, and oregano.

 

We wasted no time in visiting the Jewish museum. I was shocked by the heavy security presence with armed guards outside of the building. Once inside, we had to show our IDs and were required to turn in our phones. Antisemitism is alive and well in Greece. But what a place. There were displays after displays tracing the history of the Jewish people in Thessaloniki from 1492 until WWII. The most breathtaking was the room with stone-covered walls, the names of all 48,000 Salonikan Jews killed in the Holocaust carved into the marble. There’s an entire scene in the book that deals with this room.

 

What saddened me most was what we saw when we visited the trainyard where the Jews were herded into cattle cars and shipped to Auschwitz. Before we got to where the station once stood, there was a wall on which someone had pained a mural covered with black-and-white figures in their striped uniforms, their eyes and mouths wide in horror. As if that weren’t difficult enough to view, what sickened me was the blue swastikas someone had painted over them.

 

We also trekked to the other side of the city to visit what had once been the Jewish cemetery, now the grounds of Aristotle University. All that remains to testify that half a million people were once buried here is a small, ill-kept memorial. There were two dead Christmas wreaths placed there. We visited in August.

 

In addition to a moving and thought-provoking story, I hope to also introduce you to the amazing city of Thessaloniki and give you a peek into the people and the culture of this amazing place. If you ever find yourself in Greece, plan some time in Thessaloniki. Many Americans miss this gem, but it’s packed with charm and history.

Giveaway



To celebrate her tour, Liz is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon e-gift card and copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/23ccb/what-i-would-tell-you-celebration-tour-giveaway

Blog Stops

CELEBRATE LIT BLOG TOUR - Check out other reviews!
Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, January 28
Texas Book-aholic, January 28
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, January 29
Blogging With Carol, January 29
Genesis 5020, January 30
Tell Tale Book Reviews, January 30
Where Faith and Books Meet, January 30
Ashley’s Clean Book Reviews, January 31
For Him and My Family, January 31
Cover Lover Book Review, February 1
Lily’s Book Reviews, February 1
Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, February 2
deb’s Book Review, February 2
Betti Mace, February 3
Connie’s History Classroom, February 3
Paula’s Pad of Inspriation, February 4
Locks, Hooks and Books, February 4
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, February 5
Books You Can Feel Good About, February 5 (You are here)
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, February 6
Holly’s Book Corner, February 6
Bigreadersite, February 7
Blossoms and Blessings, February 7
Mary Hake, February 7
Labor Not in Vain, February 8
Pause for Tales, February 9
A Good Book and Cup of Tea, February 9
Little Homeschool on the Prairie, February 10
Southern Gal Loves to Read, February 10
Lights in a Dark World, February 10


My Reviews

Tuesday, May 24, 2022

The Memory Keeper of Kyiv by Erin Litteken

 



This is a story that is difficult to read, haunting. The writing and storytelling make you feel like you're there, but that's the problem. It starts in 1929 in Ukraine when things were still mostly normal for Katya and her family, but it changed quickly. Per the author between 1932 and 1933, one in every eight Ukrainians died in this manmade famine. Stalin had taken over, requiring that the people "support the state" by turning over everything they had, forcing collectivization on them. People who didn't comply were killed or deported, taxed beyond being able to pay. This story of survival was recorded and revealed in 2004, this story flipping back and forth between times to explain what happened. Seventy years later, a young widow discovered her grandmother’s journal that will reveal the long-buried secrets of her family’s haunted past. The high cost of survival from treatment like this, treatment over years. Riveting, heart wrenching, hard to put down. This country is at war again with Russia, so it's even more important to be reminded of what happened there before. Hard to believe that it could happen again now in this day and age. 
I received this book free from the publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

@BoldwoodBooks  @BookandTonic #BoldwoodBooks #TheMemoryKeeperofKyiv #NetGalley #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout @erinlitteken #fivestarbooks 

My reviews

Friday, July 31, 2020

The Ringmaster's Daughter by Carly Schabowski



The story follows Michel, a young, handsome, poor man who lives in Paris, just at the beginning of the German invasion in Europe. Michel has some good friends, especially an older man named Bertrand who has basically raised him. Bertrand tricks Michel and has him jump on a train that turns out to be a small circus train. They have some rough bumps, but Michel ends up working for them and falling for the ringmaster's woman. It isn't until much alter that he learns who she is.  Europe has been unsafe for Jews for years and the circus people know it well. But they're smart and have good friends who are able to help them for awhile. The ringmaster takes care of everyone in the troupe, watching out for their survival. They are all misfits. As is typical in carnival life, relationships are complicated. It's interesting to see this play out - the story doesn't always go as expected. During this horrible time and place in history, relationships are what really mean everything. Sad and yet encouraging. Good read.

I received this book free from the publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.  #TheRingmastersDaughter #NetGalley

My Reviews:
Goodreads
Amazon
BarnesAndNoble
Pinterest
Twitter