Donna's Book Club

I subscribe to the "O" magazine, and as you know, Oprah is really into books. I like to find
books listed in that magazine, which I have never heard of, and order them. Sometimes, I
like them--sometimes I don't.
Some time ago, I heard about the book "Seabiscuit", written by Laura Hillenbrand. Now, I
have to be honest here--I couldn't finish the book. I guess I'm just not into horse books.
Ms. Hillenbrand has now written a new book, called "Unbroken--A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption", and believe me, I couldn't put this book down--but
did have many restless nights as I read it.
It is a true story of Louis Zamperin. You talk about being in the wrong place, at the wrong
time, Mr. Zamperin always seemed to be there. His plane went down, he and his buddies (later
only 1 buddy) set a record for surviving on the sea in a raft that was falling apart only to be
attacked by enemy aircraft.
If you like history and war stories, you'll like this book.
The second book I've read in the past few weeks, made me angry, as a woman. It is called
"The 19th Wife", by David Ebershoff. It is about the Mormans and polygamy. The
"plural wives", as they were called, suffered humiliation and rejection, as the young, prettier
wives moved up in the chain of lust, and the older women dropped lower and lower. The
book points out something I had never thought of--what these multiple marriages did to
the children involved.
The third book was written by a man who lives near us. He is a friend of my friend, Wanda
Gish, and she talked about his book, "Living the Dream", so much I ordered it, and have
begun to read it. His name is Barry Coughlin and this is his first novel. Mr. Coughlin was
diagnosed with ALS in 2001. I think you will like this book. I ordered my copy from
the internet, or I think you can order it directly from Mr. Coughlin's website. Happy reading!