Mark Joseph Jochim

WWW Wednesdays is a bookish meme that was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived by “fledgling writer” Sam A. Stevens on Taking on a World of Words. To participate, you just answer the Three W’s:

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading:

A few days ago, I read an article on From Our Bookshelf about “WWII Historical Fiction Books That Make History Come Alive“. Susan Meissner’s The Last Year of the War was included and I clicked over to read the full review. It’s about two teenage girls — one German-American, the other Japanese-American — who befriend each other while interned at a camp in Texas during World War II. The premise appealed to me and I sought out the book; once I found it, I started reading and just could not put it down. It just had to go on this month’s reading list. I suspect that it will not take me long to finish The Last Year of the War.

This has really picked up since I wrote about it last Wednesday. Much of the story in the chapters I have read most recently focus on the Vienna settings as Austria has just opened the doors to Hitler and Eichmann and the rest of the Third Reich. I think that, eventually, the two sets of characters will come into contact with each other.

Recently Finished:

This was really great! Set primarily in Ukraine, the action was almost non-stop and I learned a lot about the realities of the current war. Brad Thor is another fiction writer who does extensive research so his novels are rooted in facts. After finishing the book, I spent some time on his website where there was quite a bit more background information to be found.

I didn’t really care for this book as it didn’t meet my expectations. I thought it was going to delve into information about alien encounters revealed/confirmed during the recent Congressional hearings. I thought it would clear up, in my mind, what is actually known about presumed encounters. Instead, it was a recounting of many well known sightings starting with World War II and continuing towards the present day. While plenty of supporting documents and interviews were interspersed throughout the book, I felt it didn’t offer any big reveals and, at times, it actually muddied the waters a bit more.

Reading Next:

I think I will start reading one (or both) of these within the next two or three days; I am starting to feel like I have too many books left on my April TBR and that the month is coming to an end much too quickly.

Happy Reading!