About: Zuleikha by Guzel  Yakhina (translated by Lisa Hayden) is a novel about a Tartar widow who has been exiled to Siberia in the 1930s.  This book was the winner of the Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award and the Russia Big Book literary prize, as well as being short listed for the Russian Booker Prize. 448 […]

About: Arale by Tristan Roulot (illustrated by Denis Rodier) is a graphic novel taking place in Russia, 1934 in which the Czar is mortally wounded and Rasputin concocts a mind transfer plan. This graphic novel was originally published in France. 66 pages Publisher: Europe Comics Language: English ASIN: B07N8C3CZK   My rating for Arale – […]

About: The Allies: Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, and the Unlikely Alliance That Won World War II by Winston Groom is a non-fiction book which recounts how Russia became and unlikely ally with the United States and England during World War II. Mr. Groom is a historian and novelist. 464 pages Publisher: National Geographic Language: English ISBN-10: […]

About: Four Soldiers by Hubert Mingarelli (translated by Sam Taylor) is a short novel taking about members of the Russian Army fighting the Russian Civil War in 1919. Mr. Mingarelli is a French writer, he won the Prix Medici prize in 2003 for this novel. 144 pages Publisher: The New Press Language: English ISBN-10: 1620974401 […]

I love a good spy novel, a great one is even better, and a great non-fiction book which reads like a great spy novel is the best.

About: Daughters of the Night Sky by Aimie K. Runyan is a novel about the Russian women pilots of World War II known by their victims as the “Night Witches”.  Ms. Runyan likes to write about history’s unsung heroes, or at least unsung in the US. 301 pages Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (January 1, 2018) Language: English ISBN-10: 1503946770 […]

I was excited from the first time I head the plans to make a standalone Felix Leiter story. With all the trepidations and pre-judgements that came with the announcement, only one thought, and one thought only, was on my mind – about damn time!

This is a two part story, the first one, as the name of the book suggests, is the story of the Nazis trying to control people’s beliefs via literature, punishment and spectacles of burning books symbolizing “wrong” ideology. The second part is the painstaking cataloging of millions of books, returning what can be returned (through notes, plates and other identifying marks).

The narrative is very absorbing and powerful, I was especially fascinated to read how decisions in the upper echelons of government impact the little person on the street who just wants a good job and a warm meal.

A very ambitious and well researched novel which tries to understand how good people simply roll over and help commit atrocities