Welcome to the third month of the reading/blogging event Flavia and I are hosting, Calendar Girls! It’s a monthly event designed to ignite bookish discussions between bloggers based on the monthly theme. For more information, check out my or Flavia’s launch posts!
March’s Theme:
Best Novel with an Active War!
Okay. I originally thought this one would be pretty easy, yeah? I mean, I must read a gazillion books with wars going on in them. So, I confidently wandered over to my bookshelf to pick my favorite book with a war in it only to find out… almost none of my books have wars in them! 0.0 Well… in that case… *cough* Here is my pick for March!
Memoirs of a Geisha
by Arthur Golden
This may seem an odd choice to many of you because the war isn’t the focal point of this book. The protagonist isn’t even part of the war going on in the book. Nor is the war some epic battle between good and evil in a far-off fairy-tale kingdom. But there is a war and it’s one of our wars. WWII. A war that some people today still remember living through. (But please keep in mind that this book is a work of fiction.)
While many other books may have giant wars that encompass everyone, I picked this one for its subtlety. The main character has no part in the war. Yet, she is still directly affected by the war when it comes into her country, her home, and changes her life forever. She has no way to avoid it. She has no power to rectify the damages the war causes, and she must learn to adapt in this new world or risk being crushed by it. I picked this book because it reminds us that everyone is affected by war whether we know them, think about them, or not.
Anyone else read Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden?
If you haven’t, you should!
Calendar Girls’ picks for Best Novel with an Active War!
Flavia – The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkein
Mandy – Winter by Marissa Meyer
Deanna – The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Savana – White Rose by R. Garcia Y Robertson
Lauren – Front Lines by Michael Grant
Melanie Noell Bernard 
Oooh I think we have a copy of this floating around, my Mum has read it, I will have to add it to my TBR pile if we do! I think it’s interesting when the war is there in the background and you can see the effects playing out subtly.
I chose a WWII story too: http://twobirds1blog.blogspot.ca/2017/03/calendar-girls-mar-2017-best-book-with.html
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I thought it was a very cool element to the story and I hope everyone likes it as much as I did! ^.^ I hope you get the chance to read it and I really liked your pick, too! Very unique!
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Ahhhh! I forgot that WWII is happening during the story of this book! Good pick Melanie! I’m definitely pleased and surprised. And for once, I actually read this one before 😉 may have to re-read it soon though…even though many parts of it made me very angry for the main character, hehe.
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Oh my gosh! Right?! I was like: “No! Stop it! Be nice to the MC!” But those are always some of my favorite books because I actually care about what’s going on and am reacting. :p (P.s. If I hadn’t just recently watched the movie again, I probs would’ve forgotten the war, too. Hahaa!)
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Haha that’s good! They just make me upset and I end up snapping at people because of the stress it’s causing me XDD
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I have not read this book, but I really should! I absolutely love historical fiction, and I have no excuses for not having put this on my TBR until now 😛 I like that you chose a book with war as an underlying theme, I had a tough time choosing my book for this month as well because I haven’t read too many that are war themed either. Great choice, and thanks for the info about it!!
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I haven’t read this one yet, but I have seen so many good things about it. It seems like such an interesting time period. I’ve always been fascinated by WWII, and this just seems like yet another fascinating take. Great post, and I now have another book to add to my TBR!
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Hee hee! I’m glad you liked it and I definitely think you should read it. (P.s. I think the book is better than the movie. ^.^) It really is quite fascinating and it’s so easy for the book to transport you to another world. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
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It’s curious that i actually own a hardcover copy of this book but I’ve never read it… I don’t have a choice yet for this month, the same happened to me because I don’t read that many books, or any books, set up in wars… I can only think of The Book Thief but I already highlighted it last month so I better give it some more thought!! 😉
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Haha! Well, what about a fantasy or scifi novel that has a war going on? I know there’s a few of those out there! But I completely understand. Even some of the SFF books I have with wars in them, wouldn’t be my first picks. :p I hope you manage to find one as we’d love to have you participate! (And maybe you just REALLY love The Book Thief. Hee hee!)
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Well maybe that yes!!hahahaha Yes, Dystopian… that’s true!!haha I was just thinking about WWII and that sort of thing… I don have something in mind finally!!haha
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