The Girl in the Green Sweater: A Life in Holocaust's Shadow

This book by Krystyna Chiger and Daniel Paisner is the memoir of Krystyna taking place in a World War II Lyov, Ukraine. It is from the point of the view of the 7 year old Krystyna and tells the harrowing tale of her families journey from a beautiful Ukraine, to Russian occupation, to the anti-Semitic German occupation, and back to the communist Russian occupation. 


Krystyna was the daughter of two fairly well-off parents who ran a fabric store. In her early childhood she wanted for nothing and lived in a big house in a then lively Lyov. It tells of having to share her home with others during the Soviet Occupation to having to move around and hiding when the German's took over. The family was eventually forced to move into the sewers and depend on the kindness of 3 sewer workers. It is the tale of this family and the others that fled with them. 


This memoir tells the story from a child's point of view with added perspectives of her fathers words. I think this gives it an innocent and open-minded quality. I always enjoy books that are from a perspective that you might not have expected and stay true to that perspective and isn't jaded or changed by age or experience. 


The only negatives I would say about this book is there was repetition of parts of the story and sometimes the flow of the story wasn't as smooth as I would have liked. I appreciate that this woman shared her story with the world and that I learnt a bit more about history and human condition in the process. 


I would recommend this book to anyone who can handle a sad read and likes to learn a bit in the process. I would give this book a 7 out of 10. 

Stephen Fry in America

I wouldn't probably have picked up this book on my own but it was recommended by a friend, and I'm glad I read it. It was refreshing to read an open-minded view of travels and cultures in the USA rather than the anti-American opinions that I've run into a lot living in the UK. 

Stephen travels throughout the USA east to west in driving his black cab. I enjoyed that he didn't necessarily concentrate on the big tourist places you would expect him to visit but on smaller and more culturally diverse places and events. Although I liked reading and learning a bit about different places the book could be a bit slow sometimes. Also the country is so big that there wasn't time to write too much on many of the places (including Wisconsin!)

The best bits were when he was taking about the music in the south, visiting a prison in the south, and his views on American patriotism. It is definitely worth a read whether you are American, British, or from anywhere else. It is always nice to hear a different perspective. I would give this book a 7 out of 10.