Night by Elie Weisel (review and my only 6 star rating)

I didn't choose Night by Elie Weisel because it was part of Oprah's Book Club but because it is one of the books on the most banned books list.

This memoir is written by a Holocaust survivor. It is hard to read at times because it's so graphic about the torture and inhuman conditions of the concentration camps. I knew the torture that the Jews endured was horrendous but this was beyond my worst imagination. If there is a hell then this is exactly what it is like.

Even at 34 years old, I felt this book robbed me of some innocence that I wasn't even aware that I still had. I never truly understood the depths of the evil in Hitler until I read Night. As I read the book I wished with all my heart that what I was reading hadn't really happened.

However, even though the book shocked me about what humans are capable of, I know that the truth must be told. We have to know the mistakes of our past in order to not repeat them. We have to learn the truth of what is in our history. I think some people try to claim that the Holocaust never happened because it's impossible for them to believe that humans are capable of doing such horrendous things.

This book also changed my views in another way. A truly life altering way. I have always considered myself a pacifist. "War is never necessary" was a motto that I lived by. The only way to stop the atrocities that Hitler and his armies were carrying out was war. You can't talk an evil person into not being evil. Sometimes the only way to save people is to wage war against their oppressors. In certain situations, war is the answer. I never, ever, EVER thought I would say that, much less truly believe it.

This book gets something I have never done before and that is give it a 6 star rating!

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (review)

I picked up The Lost Symbol from the library. It was a 7-day express book which meant I had to get it read in a week and there was no renewal. This book was soooo good I had no problem reading it fast!

I love all the books by Dan Brown but this is by far his best book ever! It's so complicated and has so many twists and turns that it is nearly impossible to write anything without spoilers so I will do something I rarely do and that is resort to the back of the book blurb.

The Lost Symbol is a deadly race through a real-world labyrinth of codes, secrets, and unseen truths . . . all under the watchful eye of Brown’s most terrifying villain to date. Set within the hidden chambers, tunnels, and temples of Washington, D.C. ...

As the story opens, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned unexpectedly to deliver an evening lecture in the U.S. Capitol Building. Within minutes of his arrival, however, the night takes a bizarre turn. A disturbing object–artfully encoded with five symbols–is discovered in the Capitol Building. Langdon recognizes the object as an ancient invitation . . . one meant to usher its recipient into a long-lost world of esoteric wisdom.

When Langdon’s beloved mentor, Peter Solomon–a prominent Mason and philanthropist–is brutally kidnapped, Langdon realizes his only hope of saving Peter is to accept this mystical invitation and follow wherever it leads him. Langdon is instantly plunged into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and never-before-seen locations–all of which seem to be dragging him toward a single, inconceivable truth.

I will say this one thing and gives a hint about the biggest spoiler of all but Christians will like...possibly love how this book ends. You'll be nodding your heads going "Yep, we were right all along!" At first you will probably hate the book but finish it. You won't be sorry.

In other reviews and book guides of The Lost Symbol, I've noticed that people get really upset because Dan Brown isn't always accurate with facts. So what!? It's fiction! Hence, made up, make believe, not real. Does it really matter if Brown got the street names right if the story is really, really good?

On its first day the book sold one million in hardcover and e-book versions in the U.S., the UK and Canada, making it the fastest selling adult novel in history. I can understand whay the critics would want to rip Dan Brown's book apart. Pure jealousy.

I didn't stop reading once I finished The Lost Symbol either. Because so much of the book is based on things that actually exist such as the Freemasons, Washington D.C., and noetics, I've read a handful of guides to The Lost Symbol. The "facts" are just as fascinating as the book.

I don't know if it changed my life but it is one of the most exciting books I have ever read. I gave it !