Unbroken

Hey, good morning.

I read a lot of books.  All kinds of books - I just love reading. 

You know what I don't like?  Book reviews.  I get so BORED!  I love book recommendations from people, and if I see someone has written a favorable review of a book, I'll put it on my library list, but I just don't get into the actual review.

So if you're like me, I need you to fight those bored tendencies, and give this post two minutes of your attention, and then I promise you can go back to whatever exciting things you have on your agenda this beautiful morning. 

I feel compelled to share this book I just finished - Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. 

Here's the quick and dirty.  It's a historical non-fiction that follows an Olympic miler Louis Zamperini as he is drafted into service in the Pacific theatre of WWII.  He is on a bomber that is shot down over the middle of the Pacific ocean, and he tries to survive on a small life raft with two other soldiers for a really, really long time. 

The stories in this book are unbelievable - I had to keep reminding myself that this actually happened - it's hard to wrap your mind around.  In one particularly terrifying day, starving to death, covered with huge salt sores, and desperate for water, Louie and his raftmates finally see a passing aircraft.  Suddenly they are in the middle of a shower of machine gun fire from the plane - a Japanese fighter, bullets whizzing through their inflatable raft.  As the raft is sinking, the men try to keep air in it by blowing into the holes, while one of them patches.  Underneath them, sharks are rubbing their backs along the floor of the raft, and occasionally, one will leap from the water, jaws wide, and the men fight them off with oars.  You must read this book.

Aside from being a page-turner that I just could not put down, after I was done with the book, the horror and the hope of the book stayed with me.  As I go through my daily routine, I think about these men, and other POWs and the hell they went through.  The spirit of courage and survival of these men is profoundly moving, and as I read the book, I could feel a shift inside me, that I can't really articulate, but I think this is a must-read for every man and woman.  Go to your library, and get it.

Thanks for hanging with me there.

If you made it this far, tell me what book I should read next.  Any genre. I don't discriminate - I'm an equal opportunity book lover. :)