The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Morris, H. (2018). The Tattooist of Auschwitz. London: Zaffre Publishing.

Dr Anne should be heading for Chicago to meet up with her friend Lois Denham to celebrate nearly 60 years of friendship.

Lois and Dr Anne's  last trip included an emotional visit to Auschwitz and Birkenau in 2014.  Today, Dr Anne was having her fourth general anaesthetic in a matter of months - annus horribilis - so she picked up the recommended - The Tattooist of Auschwitz.  Dr Anne's memories of the visit are vivid.  The story of Lale, a Slovakian Jew determined to survive three years in Auschwitz was insightful.  How does one survive - giving.  The more you give the greater the reward.

Lale fell in love with Gita who worked in 'Canada' sorting the clothes and jewels of those who went to the gas chambers.  The smuggled money and jewels bought food from the outside to be shared with those on starvation rations.

Being caught brought support from those whom he had helped - the big Jew who beat him 'lightly' , the girl who slept with the SS Officer who plucked him from death.

One needs motivation, positivity, and a measure of luck to survive.

Come on Dr Anne, you can do it too.......

This is going to hurt.

Kay, A. (2017). This is going to hurt.  London:Picator.

Dr Anne was at Junior Summer School in St Andrews.  She had to take the train to Aberdeen on consecutive days to undergo a procedure.  She picked this book up at W H Smith.  She learned so much about babies, mothers, fathers, vaginas, caesarians, sexual practices and the outcomes.  Did it shock the 'old maid'? Nah, it had her giggling all the way to and fro to Aberdeen twice.

Munich

Harris, R. (2017). Munich. London: Penguin.

Dr Anne was heading for Junior Summer School in St Andrews.  Many of her friends are from Germany - Bonn, Munich.  She picked up the Munich by Robert Harris as she had read one of his previous books.  It was about the meetings of Chamberlain, Hitler, Mussolini, and Dadaldier in 1938.

Of course there are two friends - Hartman and Legat who had met at Oxford.  One was in the British Diplomatic Service and one in the Reich Foreign Ministry.  Their paths cross when a group in Germany don't want the appeasement to go ahead.  Papers are passed between the two men at great risk to both.  The appeasement goes ahead.

This was a gripping story where friends are under pressure...

The Guernsey Literary, and Potato Peel Pie Society

Shaffer, M.A. and Barrows, A. (2008). The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. London: Bloomsbury Publishing

Dr Anne was in hospital again.  Two weeks after face surgery it was time have her gallbladder removed.  The gallbladder was quite diseased and had multiple large gall stones.  Ouch...  She recuperated reading this gentle book about a group of residents in Guernsey who had 'survived' the German occupation and Juliet,  a column writer in London who looking for inspiration to write a new book.  A letter from Dawsey in Guernsey to her about the diarist Charles Lamb sparked off a communication that would change Juliet's life forever.

Into the Water

Hawkins, P. (2018). Into the Water.  London: ???

Who would have known what was to be the path for Dr Anne in the four months since her last post.  She has visited four hospitals in the last 12 months and has now built up nearly fifty visits.  It started of with the hand, the shingles, the acid reflux, the broken patella, the gallbladder and gallstones, the melanoma.

This book is the next novel by the author Paula Hawkins who wrote The Girl on the Train.  Dr Anne went to the hospital for facial surgery on the 29th June.  She was last on the schedule for the day and had to sit from 0730 to 1530 with nothing to eat or drink.  It was definitely a day to read.  Into the Water certainly held her attention on what was a very difficult day for her.  Did people jump into the pool of water or were they pushed?  Was it a way of getting rid of difficult women. The book held Dr Anne's attention until she was discharged from hospital the following day.

Dr Anne actually preferred this book to the Girl on the Train.

The Long Long Winter of 17/18

It has been Dr Anne's longest winter.  She broke her patella on the 4th November so it has been six months of sitting, reflecting on life, the universe and all.

Dr Anne spend Christmas and New Year with her neighbours instead of travelling.  It was a fun time. She then went with her neighbours to a lodge on Loch Tay. where she jumped in and out of the hot tub with the girls.  This is a new and lasting friendship.

New Year 2017

Arriving at the Lodge.

Dr Anne's longstanding friendship with SS has strengthened to a new level.  Who was there to pick her up when she was discharged from hospital, looked after when she was poorly, drove her home and cared for her by phone and email but SS.

In February, SS accompanied Dr Anne to the dance festival in Newcastle.  They had some nice food, a visit to see the Greatest Showman in the cinema, and a walk along the river on a cold but sunny February morning.

In April SS and Dr Anne went to Glasgow to see the Highland Fling with Scottish Ballet then lunch at the Dome in Edinburgh with Melanie Boyd from Canada and one of Dr Anne's dancers.

The Ballet

The Dome

Small Great Things

Picoult, J. (2017). Small Great Things.  London: Hodder and Stoughton.

This is one of Richard and Judy's selection in 2017.  Dr Anne had bought the most of the series.  She took this one on her first train trip since she broke her patella.  She had picked it up and read Ruth's story and Kennedy's story.  She laid it down when it came to Turk's story as she became uneasy.  Eventually she made it through the book.  It was a well written story bringing out bias, racism and making one thing about one's prejudices.  It was a book to make one feel uneasy.

Solo

Boyd, W. (2014). Solo. London: Vintage

Dr Anne is a longtime fan of William Boyd.  He was asked to write a Bond story so Dr Anne eagerly anticipated the read.  Dr Anne has read many William Boyd books but no Ian Fleming books so she wondered...

This last weekend brought snow, wind, cold weather so the book was opened and the pages were turned.  Part one was set in West Africa, part two in Washington DC where Bond went solo to revenge the happenings in Africa.

All in all it wasn't quite as enthralling as Restless, Ordinary Thunderstorms and Sunset.

The Darkest Goodbye

Gray, A. (2016). The Darkest Goodbye. London: Shore.

Dr Anne's friends Moira and Joan came for coffee.  Joan returned a book to Moira.  Moira left it lying on Dr Anne's table.  With the arrival of the beast from the east Dr Anne was at a loose end and picked up the book.

Det. Constable Kirsty Wilson's first case - is it euthanasia or murder?  There were a number of deaths in homes and nursing homes of people who were severely disabled.  It could be seen as natural causes but no when autopsies were conducted the bodies were found to to have had large quantities of morphine.  Is this because they have asked for it, a family member has paid for it, or is it murder?

Det. Constable Wilson, Det. Sergeant Murdoch and Det. Superintendent had their work cut out.  

Entry Island

May, P. (2014). Entry Island. (London: Quercus Editions Ltd)

Dr Anne is feeling particularly alone just now.  It is 16 weeks since she broke her knee - cap and it feels as though it will never get better.  Every day there is pain and a feeling of inertia.

This book has her thinking back to her ancestors who went to Canada in the early 1900s. Dr Anne knows who she is and thinks of her ancestors' hardships and how privileged she is to be who she is.

Sime and Kirsty were thrown together, the laird's daughter and the crofter boy who saved her life in the 1800s in the Outer Hebrides.  They got separated as they ran off to a life together in Canada.  The remnant is the RING and the PENDANT which Kirsty took from the family home. Sime was given the ring and Kirsty kept the pendant.  Sime and Kirsty, great, great, great grandchildren  of Sime and Kirsty are thrown together in the 21st century, great, great, great grandchildren of Sime and Kirsty when Kirsy's husband is murdered.  Dr Anne was totally absorbed as the story unfurled.  Will they get together in due course.