Like most of you, I prefer fiction books for my reading
pleasure, but I’ve read some non-fiction books that have left a lasting
impression on me. Sometimes a true story
can be unimaginable and chilling. I want
to tell you about three such books here.
Tales from a
The book is
about growing up in Vietnam
during the war when a change of government turns the life of one family upside
down. Soldiers move into their home burn
their books and take over the neighborhood.
This story is about a young girl growing up under the communist
regime. The family tries to hang on to
their traditions, their hometowns and provinces, but the pervasiveness of the
communist value system eventually drives them to suicide or exile.
The Black Wall by Jiazhen Qi
This story
is a full account of a family in China during the rise of
communism. This powerful story is told
by one of the daughters in the family who is imprisoned at the age of twenty
under a charge of being a counterrevolutionary.
Her father is already serving a sentence for the same crime. The remaining family must scrape by selling
what they can to buy food to survive.
They under constant surveillance and not allowed to leave the house unless
it is to go to the communist school or to buy food. As you can imagine, prison life is no
better. Conditions are deplorable
there. At times, this book is graphic
and the things these people endured are beyond imagination. This story is one you won’t forget.
The book is
about a family living in FL. The father
discovers he has a brain tumor at age 50.
Glioblastoma gives no warning until it’s too late. The diagnosis leaves his wife and two
daughters stunned, but they don’t let go of hope as they struggle for a cure
and survival against all odds. Southern
black caregivers move into the home to aid the family around the clock. After all avenues are exhausted, they must
accept what’s coming.
The second
half of the book is about how the family copes with his loss and shows them
that sometimes there are second chances at happiness. Love can come disguised and when least
expected.
Have you read any memorable books?
