Sleep in Peace Tonight

James MacManus has written an immersive, beautiful book, “Sleep in Peace Tonight”, centered on the events leading up to the U.S. entry into WWII.  MacManus chronicles   the efforts of Harry Hopkins, Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.    Roosevelt trusts Hopkins implicitly and most of Roosevelt’s staff resents it.    Churchill is desperate for the US to enter the war and enlists Hopkins to advise Roosevelt to do so.    Detailed accounts of meetings, drinking and wartime bombing of London truly bring this book to life.    To complicate matters, Leonora Finch is assigned to drive Hopkins around.  But what Leonora really wants in frontline action in the war and enlists to be a spy in France.  Hopkins and Finch engage in several trysts and Hopkins finds that he loves her but her passion lies in wartime action.  Hopkins travels back and forth between DC and London trying to track down Leonora as the war escalates.  Latter chapters in the book chronicle Leonora’s training as a spy and when Leonora cannot be found Hopkins is mired in regret.//It is obvious that MacManus researched this topic thoroughly and the end result is a book difficult to put down.  The realistic conversations, historical facts and all-too-human emotions make this book a real winner.

I Am Malala

“I am Malala” is inspiration-filled as you learn about this wonderful story of Malala, a young and very brave girl in Pakistan.   Typically women do not get educated in Malala’s country but her father was a progressive educator that believes both boys and girls should be educated.  When Malala was ten, the Taliban began to attack villages that did not follow a strict Muslin lifestyle.  Malala was an excellent student that loved to learn and she was not willing to give up school.  When she was ten, she started a campaign to ensure girls were educated.    In October 2012, she was shot while returning home from school.  Two other girls were injured but the shooters wanted to kill Malala for her outspoken passion and influence.  After the shooting, Malala and her family moved to Birmingham, England.  ” Am Malala”  is a book that reminds readers how for granted we take our freedoms.  A simple day at school can be a death-defying event as Malala proved.  Prepare to be inspired and ultimately hopeful as you read this interesting and detailed look into a young girl’s Pakistani life.