Book review - "Day After Night"

"Day After Night" by Anita Diamant
My grade: A

Tired of the overdone Holocaust theme, I found this book surprisingly on my 'to read' shelf, not sure of why and when I bought it. I began to read it, somewhat reluctantly, only to get sucked in practically from the first page. The setting is post-Holocaust Palestine, a refugee camp (aka prison) for illegal immigrants. The vast majority of them are European Jews, who survived the Holocaust and are now fighting the British to secure a homeland for themselves.

The story is nicely told, largely touching on the Holocaust itself, although indirectly. As Holocaust books go, this one is relatively void of the grotesque and sheds light on the people who are often forgotten, the survivors. Definitely recommendable.

Book review - "Short Stories"

"Short Stories" by Langston Hughes
My grade: B

This is a really great collection of short stories, and I believe, it is a complete collection of all the short stories Hughes ever wrote. The stories are very well written and largely indicative of the time and setting they were written in. They tend, however, to get somewhat boring and repetitive if you read one story after another, like a regular novel. Perhaps this collection is best read one story at a time, with pauses in between.