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For Women's History Month, I'm going to start this audiobook tomorrow. #herstoryathon

Finally finished this one up. I enjoyed it! In some ways I wonder if it would‘ve been better as an audiobook but it did give a very unique perspective on WWII. Not any kind of retelling of events/layout of what happened but rather oral accounts from various women who served in the military for Russia

📕 The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich
🖊 Undset, Sigrid
📺 Unbelievable (Netflix miniseries)
🎤 U2
🎶 Under Pressure - Queen & David Bowie

#ManicMonday #LetterU
@CBee

I think everything by Alexievich is essential reading.

#99ponKindle #kindledailydeals 😀 👍

This was such a good read, very tragic and informative. Before we get into the accounts of Soviet women, what they did during and after #worldwar2, how they loved and lost, we get some words from the author who dubs herself a historian of the soul. That is what this book feels like. I plan to check out more of her works and learn more of what women went through during these times. The second book I've read that touches on the subject #nonfiction

"Today many people, especially the young, think it was only America that defeated Hitler. Little is known about the price the Soviet people paid for the victory - twenty million human lives in four years. And about your sufferings. Immeasurable."

A customer once recommended I check out Svetlana Alexievich's books and bam, we had one in store so I finally decided to pick it up. It's very raw and powerful and it's been tough in its own way to get through it #wordwar2 #russianhistory #womenshistory #sovietwomen

"I am a historian of the soul." - SA

I listened to this audiobook and also read some sections in print all the way back at the beginning of the year, and it‘s one that has stuck with me.

#12BooksOf2020 #nonfiction #audiobook

My first five star read of the year. An important book that taught me about a side of war not often written about in non-fiction (or not that I know of!). Every single one of these women‘s stories was powerful. I‘m so glad I read it. I feel like I‘ve taken a lot from it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #readingeurope2020 #belarus

I had a fantastic reading month to start off this year. Of course I loved the reread of The Fellowship of the Ring, and my favorite new reads for the month were both Litsy readalongs as well. I also read a higher than average number of Mt. TBR books and 4 #1001books.

#ReadingStats #MonthlyStats
#FellowshipofTolkien #ATreeGrowsInBrooklynBuddyRead

Set off a bit quickly for #readingeurope2020 - I‘ll have this wrapped up by the end of Feb! 🤣

#armenia - An Armenian Sketchbook
#belarus - tagged book
#bulgaria - Border
#denmark - Childhood
#france - My Good Life in France
#italy - The Food of Love Cookery School
#norway - The Mercies
#unitedkingdom - Molly and Me
#monaco - Sleeping with the Enemy
#vaticancity - The Two Popes

Loved Belarus and the UK books, didn‘t like the Monaco book.

Been reading this all month, but finished it during #widehorizonsreadathon @Emilymdxn - book 2

This book totally deserved the Nobel Prize. I experienced a wide range of emotion - mainly anger, especially while reading the conclusion. When all of the world were celebrating victory, the end of war, and the return of the men and women who fought for their countries, one Communist nation was still victimizing its people.

I AM NOT DONE.....

I am writing a book about war...

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

I finished this book this morning and then thought about my review off and on all afternoon. This was a great choice for seeing a different perspective of Europe and WWII than I‘ve read about before. The style is interesting and heart wrenching in how the author brings together bits and pieces of stories from many women throughout the war, in general progressing from the beginning through the end, focusing on the details of daily survival.
👇

I think one of the things that surprised me the most in this book was how the women were treated by the men they fought and worked alongside during the war compared to the shunning and mistreatment they faced away from the front. The quote above is just one of many examples.

Also, I read just about 20 hours this weekend for #24B4Monday.

@Daisey @youneverarrived @squirrelbrain

Some quotes that stood out to me this week:

Do you know how beautiful a morning at war can be?

... didn't meet any men in the villages. Only women meet us.

We sat in it till we soaked it off...We were more afraid of shame than death. (I will never complain of my period again).

For the sappers the war ended several years later; they fought longer than everybody else.

i‘ve found some of the testimonies in this section of the book (the third quarter) even more heart rending and difficult to read. In particular, the part where injured and burned partisans were paraded through villages in the expectation that families would cry out for them and thus expose themselves and be killed. Mothers had to watch and keep silent.

The above quote does help me to understand a bit more why these women wanted to go to war.

Breakfast in bed with my book and a cuppa 👌

This book is amazing. The way these women tell their stories is so vivid and detailed. I‘m learning about a part of the war I was oblivious to.

Listening to my #audiobook and shoveling some snow away from the front door this morning. This book is tough to listen to sometimes, but it‘s also a fascinating look at the everyday experiences of so many women during the war. I don‘t know the geography of this area of the world very well, but I truly appreciate the author‘s work to collect stories from as many women as possible throughout the former Soviet Union. #ReadingEurope2020 #Belarus

I just feel so impotent. It's so sad. @Daisey @squirrelbrain @youneverarrived Helen and Katie, you are both going through something, I will understand if you need to stop and finish it later. Both of you are in my thoughts.

We hasten to forget, to wipe away the traces, because preserved facts can become evidence, often at the cost of life.

A very poignant thought @Daisey @squirrelbrain @youneverarrived

So many heartbreaking quotes in this book, it‘s difficult to choose just one or two.

One thing I‘m really struggling with is why (nearly) all of these women were so desperate to go and fight. What do you think it was that made them like that? I‘m not able to discern any coherent reasoning in any testimonies - just that they HAD to do it. Was it due to the awful situations they found themselves in, political brainwashing or something else?

Started reading for the unofficial #24in48. I probably won‘t make the full 24 hours but going to try for 12 at least. Glad to be joining a few of you that are doing this 😁

I realized that I don‘t have any nonfiction in my list of books for this month, so I‘m squeezing this one in. I will probably switch back and forth between it and another audio, so I won‘t be getting through it too quickly. After listening to just under an hour, I like the audio as it emphasizes the oral history perspective, but I‘m also glad I was able to find an ebook copy as well.

#nonfiction #audiobook #ReadingEurope2020

They wouldn't give her a medal, because her parents were enemies of the people. Just before our army came, her leg was blown off. I visited her in the hospital... She wept... " But now," she said, " everybody will trust me."
????

It is very clear to me that the women are defending the Motherland, not Communism or Stalin. In America, we hold our democratic views dear, but would I defend my current government? Just makes me think. @squirrelbrain @youneverarrived

How do you learn to walk in a skirt? It was like my legs got tangled.

We were used to rationing; everything was provided by the state, so I'd go to a bakery, take as much bread as I needed, and forgot to pay.

These women break my heart. They are suffering from ptsd and learning to be normal and expected to be normal quickly.

Still thinking of you and your family @squirrelbrain Hope both of you have a great week @youneverarrived

@squirrelbrain and @youneverarrived my copy seems to be a recent reprint. I only finished the forward of the author's fight to publish. She was so brave to keep going against the Soviet censors to get this special history printed. Did your copies have this? Something that caught my eye was when the censors said to keep women's dramatic Fabrications to a minimum and she responded with men don't pay attention to the minute details. She is heroic.

Katie and I are having an ‘informal‘ buddy read of this book during January, if anyone else would like to join us.

As well as fitting the #belarus prompt for #readingeurope2020 this would also fit #bannedbook for #booked2020 as well as many other prompts in different challenges.

Katie - I‘ve split the book roughly into four sections, to read to the end of each, if that suits you? We can discuss briefly each weekend.....

Sunday reading.

Alexievich compiles an oral history from the women who served at the Soviet front lines during WWII. These are stories that were often silenced, but their courage and patriotism should have been honored all along. Heartbreaking read, but highly recommend.

I'm only bailing because I just can't get into war stories right now. Normally I would set it aside until the mood struck but it's a library book I have to return. So for now I'm done. I did like the writing and the presentation. And I feel it is an important book. I might just have to go buy my own copy to read in spurts.

I've heard good things about this one. Went into my local library to request through inter-library loan and they had it. #winning

When you are reading an intense book and you just take a moment to stare at your bookmark.

The intro to this book was amazingly powerful and profound. The writing is elegant and concise. Well worth the read!

I don't really know how to review this book. I love what the author has done here, I love the fact that she found these stories. They are important but I hate that this book needed to be written and I hate what these people inside went through before, during and after the war. It's people telling there stories and whilst it is cohesive individual voices come through. This doesn't leave you with any answers at the end, no clear cut good and bad.

There can't be one heart for hatred and another for love. We only have one, and I always thought about how to save my heart.

My review on this book will be coming tomorrow

#readingwomenmonth pink books all from the library recently. The tagged book would go in #readingwomenchallenge as by a Russian author as would unspeakable as its a book of essays. Inferior is about how science got women wrong and I'm hoping to get to it this month too. @Andrew65 @ephemeralwaltz

Only a soul sister would know why I would want to read this. Many thanks and much love to @saresmoore for the late Mother‘s Day, early birthday surprise. I swear...my Litsy friendships have restored my faith in humanity.

I gave this to my daughter for Christmas but had to buy myself another copy after I started reading it. It‘s revealing about what women did in the war and what they still thought about (haircuts, clean clothes). But it‘s rather Soviet in style (or perhaps women still framed their memories in a Soviet way). I preferred Night of Stone by Catherine Merridale.

In this book, the author compiles stories from women who fought in a variety of ways during World War II. These are important stories to share, and I do appreciate all the work the author did to collect them. Still, I‘m not a fan of nonfiction (though, recently, I keep reading it), so it just didn‘t hold my interest from start to finish.

#MarchMadnessChallenge

Read in one sitting, cried a lot. Very important book.

My homeland celebrated Victory Day today and I picked up the book I've been meaning to read for a while. Already cried a couple of times. One of the teachers at my school was a WW2 combat veteran and her tales were heart-wrenching.

The author interviewed hundreds of Soviet women who served during WWII—some of them in support jobs like nurse and laundress, and more than I realized who served in positions usually held by men, like pilot and sniper.

I didn‘t love this book, but I rarely connect with books about war. However, I think it‘s an important read because these women‘s voices deserve to be heard.

This book is extraordinary. Russian women telling their stories of WWII, where they acted as nurses, surgeons, snipers, engineers, truck drivers, infantry and more. Their words are compelling, riveting, tragic, and awful. It‘s so important to collect these stories before the generation is gone. I found the audio a plus for the Russian accents, though this is truly a collection and not a single narrative.

#marchmadnesschallenge

I'm reading this oral history in small bits bc it's so intense and a bit hard to follow. It‘s broken up into vignettes and I'm not sure if I like it ? Alexievich wanted to allow the reader to really feel the emotions & memories of the woman by compiling this "symphony of voices" based on the conversations she recorded with each of them.
#soundofthen
#marchintooz

Bookstore browsing today. So many TBRs 😍

First, I‘m glad this book excists. It tells an important story, which is normally kept silence - women‘s place in war.

Second, I‘m not sure I did myself a favour by reading this as an audiobook. This book is filled with so many personal accounts of how WWII was like for women, but they became hard to seperate, and it became almost overwhelming to listen to it.

#MarchMadnessChallenge