September 2022 Picks and Pans

No five-star reads this month, but The Happiest Man on Earth was definitely life-changing. I gave one novel a 2-star rating, which is rare for me. I read two books set in the Philippines, which is totally random. I’ll be curious to hear what you have to say. Circle back to Facebook and let me know!   The Happiest Man on Earth By Eddie Jaku “Life can be beautiful if you make it beautiful. It is up to you.” Eddie Jaku, The Happiest Man on Earth. In this uplifting memoir in the vein of The Last Lecture and Man’s Search for Meaning, a Holocaust survivor pays tribute to those who […]

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Angels of the Pacific Review

I knew little about what took place in the Philippines during World War II—most of the books I’ve read about that era were set in the European theatre—so Angels of the Pacific was enlightening. Elise Hooper’s historical novel was inspired by the true stories of US Army nurses and the contributions of Filipinas of the resistance. Nurse Tess Abbott is posted in Manila and enjoys life in a tropical paradise near sandy beaches and exciting nightclubs and restaurants. But when the Japanese Imperial Army invades the island nation, the nurses escape to Bataan where they live in the squalor of a battlefield hospital. On April 9, 1942, the American forces […]

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