Comfort & Joy, by Kristin Hannah

I read this short book on my own. To be blunt, this book is YA. It's supposed to be adult fiction. It's not. The author is supposed to be great. Not for this book. 

The Internet holds two versions of Hannah's title: one says "A Fable" - the other says "A Novel." If it's a fable, we are on notice to suspend belief and believe in magic. But the book from my library says: Comfort & Joy, A Novel. 

Joy is the protagonist. She gets in a plane crash. A chartered flight, small plane. There are survivors, including Joy. The two other main characters in the book are: Daniel, the father to Bobby, who is 8 yrs old. Bobby's mom has been killed in an accident. 

Right away, the reader knows where this is headed. Except there's an UNBELIEVABLE twist about 2/3 into the book. Therein lies the "fable." Umm. So, I finished the book by skimming it. Why? The theme was Second Chances and I'm a sucker for that. I'm unsure if I'll read this author again. This book gets 2 stars (out of 5). It'd be 1 star except that I liked the second chances theme. 

Oh and I found a typo in this book. Which should NOT happen when it's a NY Times bestseller. Ever. 

The Sunflower House, by Adriana Allegri

We liked this one for the most part. It is historical fiction about Nazi Germany. The Lebensborn program was a system of homes to care for unwed moms, with the goal of having more Aryan babies born. 

Allina is a mesling, half Jew, who is able to pass as Aryan (with forged papers), and works at a Lebensborn home. There she meets an SS officer, Karl Von Strausberg. 

Those who know the history of Nazi Germany will have to suspend their knowledge and go with this story in order to enjoy it. No spoilers. We were able to enjoy it because we are not scholars on this period. 

For my taste, this author would do well to watch her over-use of certain words. For example, the word "panic" shows up about 40 times. I'm not kidding. Beyond that, this book was a page turner. We did research after reading it that helped us learn the truth about this period.