My Sister’s Mother: A Memoir of War, Exile, and Stalin’s Siberia by Donna Solecka Urbikas

Genre: Adult, Memoir

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

After reading this book I was able to see that this type of thing is still going on today. Donna’s mother and sister lived in Poland during World War II.  They were plucked out of Poland and sent to a hard labor camp in Siberia. They grew very close as they fought to survive day by day. The experienced starvation, sickness and hard labor.  Years later after they had made it to the United States we learn that they have a relationship that Donna doesn’t have with either of them. The reason is that their time in Siberia created a bond that children to come later could never form with either of them. Their lives and the lives of those to come later were colored by those very experiences.  Now when I see the news and read about the refugees who were forced to flee their land I understand that those experiences will color their life. Those are memories that they will always have and will always influence future decisions as well as future children. I don’t think I ever considered how events like this would affect children not yet born.  It was eye opening to say the least. This is a very good book, yet at times tough to read. It made me realize how good so many of us have it with the freedoms we take for granted and the relationships we build with our families. I whole-heartedly recommend this book.

A Second Reading Challenge - Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge

I have chosen a second reading challenge to participate in this year.  I had planned on doing this unofficially last year. I didn’t read one single book on my list. The reason is simple, if not an official challenge then it gets pushed to the back. I need that accountability.   So to help me with my backlog of books, especially those I agreed to review and found myself behind. I am officially joining this challenge.  You can find all of the rules for this simple challenge at the blog Escape With Dollycas. Just click on the blog title and you will be taken to her page for this challenge. The great thing about this challenge is that you don’t have to read the books in order. Most of the books on this list are books I’ve had for a while that I was supposed to read and review for the author. I can read them in the order I need to. As I read them I will link the books on this list to my review. You will be able to find them on my reading challenge page.

Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge

A -  Abe Lincoln and the Selfie that Saved the Union by David Potter

B -  Book of Nonsense by David Michael Slater

C - Coming Apart by Diane E. Robertson

D - D.E.M. Quid Pro Quo by Lee Ness

E - Egmont Key A History –by Donald & Carol Thompson

F - Fear Not  by  Sue Baker

G – The Guttersnipes by Scott Eric Barrett

H - Hearts of Fire by Gracie Burnham

I - I Never Knew Him by Marie Waltersbill

J - Jex Malone by C.L. Graber

K - Killers by David Dawson

L - Liberty by  Darcy Pattison

M - Meritorium by Joel Ohman

N - Ninelands by K.E. Boyer

O - OK is Great by David Tiefenthaler

P - Picaroons and Pembertons by J.A. Knighted

Q – Qumran by Jerry Amernic

R - Rocky’s Road by Rocky Kuznik

S – The Secret Key of Mim by Nan McAdam

T - Theo and a Horse Named Rocket by W.H. Raymond

U - Up From the Sea by Leeza Lowitz

V – The Viking’s Apprentice by Kevin McLeod

W - Wand-Paper Scissors: The Amazing Adventures of Harry Moon by Mark Andrew Poe

X -  Xavier: St. Griswold College for Abandoned Boys by E.M. Cooper

Y -  Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy

Z – ZZZZ by Catriona Crehan

Keyword Reading Challenge

Here we are the seventh day of the new year and I have finally decided to join a reading challenge.  Several years ago I would participate in all kinds of reading challenges. Then I started writing. It became too much to handle along with my full-time teaching job.  I noticed this last year that I struggled to reach my Goodreads reading goal.  As I sat and thought about what had changed over the last few years the answer came to me. I was no longer participating in reading challenges. See I do very well when I have time constraints put on me. It pushes me. So I looked through lots of reading challenges and decided I was going to participate in a few. For some of them, the books can count for other challenges. However, I am so backlogged on books I need to review and books I purchased to read for me, both physical and for my kindle. So the solution was easy, join some reading challenges. I actually went through my list of books to see if they would fit in the challenges I have chosen. I am happy to say that I had more than enough books to fit.  The first challenge I chose to participate in is a new one for me. I am real excited for this one. 

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This Can be found on the blog My Soul Called Life. Just click on the name of the blog to be taken to her site. This is a unique challenge. For each month she has a list of keywords. You find a book with one of the keywords in the title and read it.  She has instructions for joining the challenge on her site so I won't put it here. Like I said, click on the title of her blog to be taken to the instructions.

I did snag her keyword list from her blog, so here they are:

Here Are Your 2017 Keywords 

JAN- Court, Fall, Of, Way, Deep, Thousand 

FEB- And, Rose, Promise, Every, Deception, Blazing 

MAR- Shall, Go, By, Silence, Her, Saga 

APR- From, Trigger, Tale, His, Crown, Mist 

MAY- Four, Wind, All, Fury, Days, Shade 

JUN- Without, Know, Good, Watch, One, Have 

JUL- Before, Final, All, Freedom, Life, Dream 

AUG- Sun, Infinite, Big, My, Wherever, Most 

SEP- Sand, From, Between, Ever, Reasons, Clash 

OCT- Darker, You, Ashes, Out, House, Sea 

NOV- Place, War, Heart, Why, Give, Meet 

DEC- Forget, Twilight, Only, Crystal, On, Will 

Here is the list of books I will be reading for this challenge. Each month I will come back to this page and create a link to the review of that book.

JAN- Deep Shadows by Vannetta Chapman

FEB- Waves of Deception by Hope Callaghan 

MAR- The Saga of the Brothers Mountain by Michael W. Mountain

APR- The Tale of Crucified Blunt by Areesh Fatmee

MAY- A Righteous Wind by Janice Daugharty

JUN- The Chosen One by Nicole Storey

JUL- Out of a Dream by Rosemary Hines

AUG- My Daylight Monsters by Sarah Dalton

SEP- Smugglers at Whistling Sands by George Chedzoy

OCT- Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt

NOV- A Monstrous Place by Matthew Stott

DEC- Don’t Forget to Breathe by Cathrina Constantine