Book Log 2016 #1: Alex's Wake by Martin Goldsmith

The recent debate over whether or not the US should admit refugees from Syria saw a brief revival of interest in the SS St. Louis, a ship carrying Jewish refugees that was refused entry in a number of Western Hemisphere ports before returning to Germany, dooming many of its passengers to dying in a concentration camp. This book traces the journey of two of the passengers - the author's grandfather and uncle - as they left home in Germany, saw refuges slip through their fingers, and eventually wind up in Auschwitz, where they both perished.

Goldsmith makes this trip for a number of reasons, from honoring his family to confronting his own feelings about the Holocaust and the way average Germans did nothing while genocide unfolded around them. Most notably, he makes the trip as a way to make up for his parents' apparent lack of effort to get their family out of Germany before it was too late. It makes for a highly emotional tale, but one that pays off as the author and the many people he encounters along the way make some amount of peace with history.

That being said, I had a hard time connecting with the book until I got fairly deep into it. Not sure why; it could have been having to reconcile the travelogue/historical aspects of the book with the deeply personal tragedy, or just not having enough of a personal connection to get into it right away. I am happy that I stuck with it, though.

(2016 Popsugar Reading Challenge: a book about a road trip)

Book Log 2015 Extra: The 2015 Popsugar Reading Challenge

I tried to tailor my reading for 2015 to complete the reading challenge put out by Popsugar, but didn't quite finish. Which wasn't surprising, given some of the entries. So what didn't I read?

Classic romance - not a genre I typically read, so it wasn't shocking that I didn't read something here.

A book a friend recommended - kind of a ridiculous miss, as how hard would it have been to ask for recommendations on Facebook?

A book you mom loves - my mother's reading was almost exclusively of Harlequin romances, which she favored as it was easy to put them down when needed (she worked overnights at a nursing home, so the books filled the time between patient calls). She would occasionally branch out to the more popular romance authors, but rarely anything beyond. And as I've already noted that I'm not a romance person, it was unlikely that I'd read something to meet this part of the challenge.

A book that scares you - also not much of a horror reader. Or taking this in a different direction, I was apprehensive about tackling Moby Dick, and considering I've been a third of the way through it since March my apprehension was apparently correct.

A play - I started Othello, but didn't get that far into it. I should have chosen something contemporary.

A book that takes place in your hometown - my hometown has about 5500 people and is unlikely to be the setting for a novel (but a movie...). Even my current home, in a city of about 40,000, is an unlikely book setting. The 2016 challenge changes this to a book set in your home state, which will be much easier to complete.

A book that makes you cry - I don't know that I've ever cried while reading. It certainly didn't happen in 2015.

A book set in high school - another one that looks easy that I didn't knock off.

A book with bad reviews - I did try a bit to cross this off, but more often than not by retroactively checking reviews for books I didn't quite care for. That's probably not the best method.

A book that came out the year you were born - possibly the easiest entry that I didn't complete, given that there are several books that would fit the bill that I'd be interested in reading- A House for Mr. Biswas, Slaughterhouse-Five, I Sing the Body Electric, The Godfather, Portnoy's Complaint, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and so on.

A book with antonyms in the title - well, OK, I couldn't be bothered with this one.

So there you are. I am mulling trying to do this with the 2016 challenge, but don't know if I'll bother as I expect my reading time will decline this year.