My Year with Easy Company and WWII

My reading year of 2020 was a very different year. In 2018 and 2019 I took part in the Goodreads Reading Challenge. In 2018 I read 50 books; in 2019 my goal was set for 55, however I reset it to 30 and managed to read 37. By the middle of 2019, I was getting worn out with trying to keep up with my books which is why I reset my goal. So in 2020, I chose not to do the reading challenge, but I didn't know what to read. That's when I came across Band of Brothers.

As I've written before, I love WWII, but I never really studied the war or the battles. I was curious about the Band of Brothers mini-series, but before I watched it, I wanted to read the book first. I got the book from the library and was immediately immersed in the lives of the men from Easy Company. Afterwards, I saw the mini-series and from there till the end of the year, most of my 2020 reading was centered on the paratroopers of Easy Company.

Altogether, I read 10 books about Easy Company, therefore creating my own library. Although there are numerous biographies that are still being written about Easy Company, my own series consists of the the original book and the books that were primarily focused on the men that were featured in the mini-series and their biographies that were published from 2001 (when the mini-series premiered) to 2011. This also includes Parachute Infantry by David Kenyon Webster that was posthumously published in 1994. 

Reading Band of Brothers, watching the series and subsequently reading more about these men in 2020, was an unexpected miracle for me. With all the madness that was going on in the world, I would go and read about young men who left their homes, families, everything they knew and love to travel to the other side of the world and fight some of the greatest threats to mankind. They dealt with terrible leadership, harsh weather conditions, unspeakable horrors of battle and bloodshed, loss of comrades, PTSD, alcoholism, and trying to put their lives back together.

When reading about these men, reliving the war with them, gaining knowledge and understanding from their hardships, victories and defeats, all of a sudden what was going on in 2020 seemed so little and insignificant. I'm not saying that 2020 wasn't difficult, however, it's nothing compared to the real suffering of those who lived and fought in WWII. Even when I was having a difficult time returning to work, I would read about Dick Winters and what he endured under Captain Sobel and how he rose above and beyond all that Sobel threw at him. Remembering what I read helped me get through a lot of personal problems. 

• Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose

• Band of Brothers Pt. I - Pt. II

• Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, the Man who Led the Band of Brothers by Larry Alexander

• Beyond of Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters by Major Dick Winters

• Parachute Infantry by David Kenyon Webster

• Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends by William Guarnere, Robyn Post and Edward Heffron 

• Easy Company Solider by SGT. Don Malarkey

• We Who Are Alive and Remain: The Untold Stories from the Band of Brothers by Marcus Brotherton

• A Company of Heroes by Marcus Brotherton

• Call of Duty by Lynn "Buck" Compton

• Shifty's War by Darryl "Shifty" Powers and Marcus Brotherton

These are other excellent books I read about WWII as well.

• The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsell

• Unbroken by Laura Hilenbrand

• The Bedford Boys by Alex Kershaw

• The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff 

Ravenclaw Reading List

As a proud Ravenclaw, books (especially books that you can learn from) are essential to the Ravenclaw profile. Last year, I came across an interesting list inspired by Ravenclaws. Most of these book genres are biographies, science fiction, history and language study. Ravenclaws best attribute are their creativity and being creative sometimes means changing up what's comfortable or what you're use to. Some of these books I would have never thought of picking up; such as a science fiction novel or a book about how to speak properly.

I found 13 of these books at my library and I added 7 of my own books that I think fit well into this reading list, even though it's been a while since I've read them. 

And as I'm not taking the Goodsreads Challenge, I want to make my own challenge. So reading books I wouldn't normally read, re-reading books I haven't picked up in a while and branching out into different genres. And by the end I might find an unexpected favorite!

I'll have the list posted on the side bar of my site, so I can keep track and maybe other people can find a new book for themselves.

The underlined books are the books I already own. 

1. Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne From Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest by Stephen E. Ambrose
2. One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer by Nathaniel Fick
3. Black Chalk by Christopher J. Yates
4. Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
5. The Martian by Andy Weir
6. Leap of Faith by Queen Noor
7. The Road to Camelot by Thomas Oliphant and Curtis Wilkie
8. The Radium Girls: The True Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore
9. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
10. Mythology by Edith Hamilton
11. The Queen and Di by Ingrid Seward
12. Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame by Mara Wilson
13. Things Explained: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words by Munroe Randall
14. The Once and Future King by T.H. White
15. A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar
16. Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
17. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
18. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
19. Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson
20. Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu

My 10 Favorite Reads

It's hard to have a favorite book and I hate it when someone asks me what my favorite is! 

So, I made a collection of my top 10 favorite books.

//Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink// 

Probably my favorite book if I were to narrow the field. Primarily due to childhood nostalgia. I love everything about Caddie and her lively Wisconsin family. Her relationship with her father is my favorite aspect of the book, not to mention her constant shenanigans with her brothers and her friends. Caddie's character development from wild tomboy, to the possibility of a young lady comes so softly, you hardly see it.

//Not A Swan//A Little Love Song by Michelle Magorian//

I just fell in love with this book! It was beautiful, romantic, humorous and so many other things! There is a definite realness about this story and the author didn't shy away from the social attitudes put on women and girls prior to and during the second world war. The loss of innocence that leads to the world of adulthood is explored, questioned and left for the reader to determine the end. 

//The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows//

This book! In many ways Guernsey is similar to Not A Swan as it deals with the effects of WWII, strange little towns and endearing townspeople and of course heroines who love writing and are trying to find their place and their purpose in the world. Guernsey deals with a history in WWII that many may not have known about. A small group of people who came together under Nazi occupation and founded a community of friendship. This community reaches out to a young women searching for inspiration, but finds so much more.

//The Last Midwife by Sandra Dallas//

Now this was a tough book. As in the content was raw, real and very true to the time. An aging midwife who has spent her life caring for young mothers and their newborns is accused of the murder of a newborn baby. The Last Midwife was gripping and delightful, but it doesn't deter from the historic reality of life in the 1880's. 

//True Colors by Kristin Hannah//

A story of sisters and their bond of friendship that is threatened by jealousy and revenge. While I prefer historical fiction, True Colors was an exception. The themes of family, prejudice, forbidden love and ultimate forgiveness are timeless and span the decades. This story could have taken place in Colonial America or Edwardian England and that's why I found it so intriguing. 

//Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith//

The third book in the Cormoran Strike series that is by far the best. Strike must recount four harrowing cases and face the men he accused, including his stepfather he believes killed his mother. Going through Strike's past was fascinating and terrifying at the same time. And it definitely left one case wide open for revisiting. 

//The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas//

I grew up with the story of The Three Musketeers, primarily from the 1993 Disney film and the BBC series both of which I love. I read the book for the first time several years ago and was amazed that I could actually enjoy classical literature. The Three Musketeers is hysterical and points out the good, the bad and the crazy of 17th century Parisian life, while trying to avoid war with England.

//The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio by Terry Ryan//

The wonderful true story of Evelyn Ryan who provided for her family of 11 with her creative writing. During the 1950's when wives and mothers didn't work outside the home, they managed to bring in a little extra income by entering poems and jingles for ads and commercials. Known as contesting, Evelyn Ryan was a master at it. Her daughter, Terry, recounts her mother's incredible writing talent that she was able to hone as a frugal housewife and mother.

//Angels & Demons by Dan Brown//

The first of Dan Brown's Robert Langdon series Angels & Demons is a race against the clock thriller to save the lives of four holy men and all of Vatican City. Growing up, I was discouraged from reading Dan Brown's (supposed) anti-religious novels, but after I read Angels & Demons, I found very little anti-religious content at all. This book (and the following novels) deals with secret cults and the possible ideas of what they could lead to if placed in the wrong hands. 

//The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne// 

I read this book back in high school and it's been a favorite ever since. Hester Pryne was a heroine ahead of her time and a woman who refused to allow society to bring her to despair. She rose above her shameful circumstances and proved to be a dutiful mother and charitable worker that had a profound affect on all who knew her. Meanwhile two men from Hester's past compete to either ruin or save her.