Horrors of War

Salt to the Sea is an incredible historical fiction novel about an incident during WW2 that I had not heard of, the sinking of the German MV Wilhelm Gustloff by a Soviet sub in 1945.  It was the largest incident of loss of life in maritime history.
Ruta Sepetys is a really incredible writer.  I think this is the third book of her's that I have read.
It is told of the POV from 4 people:  a German soldier with serious mental issues, a Prussian dude who is fighting Hitler under the radar, a young Polish girl and young woman with medical training.
A heart-breaking story about a horrific time in history.

Man, man, man...

I LOVED Out of the Easy so much that when I saw Between Shades of Gray a an audio I had to have it!  I am super bummed that Ruta Sepetys doesn't have any other books out now so that I can devour them immediately.
This is an incredibly powerful story.  I really didn't know anything about the Sovietization of Lithuania and the deportation of "enemies of the Soviets."
Horrifying.
A tremendous book.

Any Book Set in New Orleans

New Orleans is a magical place.  Truly.  Out of the Easy shows the less magical part of New Orleans.  Every town has less magical parts, of course.  And when you are in the business of prostitution, no matter how magical your city is, you are going to experience the dark side.  Josie is not a prostitute, but her mother is.  And her mom is a serious jerk.  Not because she is a prostitute.  Indeed, the madame of the house where Josie's mom worse is not a jerk.  She is hard as nails, but I liked her. The book is set in the 1950s, in the French Quarter.  Josie desperately wants to get out of New Orleans.  She wants to attend Smith College.  I thought it was kinda cool that one of Josie's new friends mention a "promising talent by the name of Madeleine L'Engle who graduated from Smith."  I have never read a book by Ruta Sepetys, but man, I am going to now!