Book Review: Ashley's War, The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

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Ashley's War:  The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon is a non-fiction book published in April 2015.  The story follows several women and their quest to become the first women to be in combat along the Green Berets and Army Rangers. This is a book that was selected in my workplace for discussion between women and/or veterans.  The book discussion was broken into three parts much like how the story was broken up.  It garnered great conversations. Some of the things that happened in the book didn't surprise me, such as how physically demanding the tryouts were to be part of the special operations.  It's a demanding job that requires people to be not only physically strong but mentally strong.     What did shock me was that it took the military so long to allow women to fight along men on the battlefield.  Another thing that astonished me were how accepting most of the men in the Army Rangers were of the women fight
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Book Review: Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

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book review remarkably bright creatures shelby van peltRemarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt is an unlikely story of how an octopus named Marcellus and a human named Tova Sullivan become the best of friends.  The book club I belong to chose it for our September discussion.  

To be honest, I really didn't have any interest in reading this book despite hearing rave reviews about it on Facebook.  There was so much hype about it, and I'm usually disappointed in books that are over-hyped.  Additionally, I just couldn't get past knowing that part of it was told from the perspective of an octopus . . . I don't know why it bothered me since Charlotte's Web by E.B. White was told from a pig's perspective, and I loved that book as a child.  However, I had my own preconceived ideas about the book, and I am so glad that I put those ideas aside and gave it a chance.  

Told from three different perspectives, the author did a phenomenal job of telling a story of an inconceivable friendship.  Don't worry, it isn't confusing.  At first, I wasn't sure how all three timelines were going to come together, and when the three stories eventually merged, I was in total and utter awe at how well the author brought it together.  Each of the three main characters had such an intricate background, and all three main characters were absolutely delightful.  

The author did a fabulous job making me care about all three of them . . . Marcellus, Tova, and Cameron.  Although the fate of Marcellus was predetermined from the very beginning, I didn't quite expect his death to happen the way it did . . . it was so bittersweet, and it makes me emotional just thinking about it now.  I know it's just a book, but I don't like it when an animal dies in a story.  Anyone else feel this way?

Even though I finished this story a few days ago, I'm still at a loss for words and don't quite know what to say about it other than I am so glad that I gave it a chance.  Please don't make the same mistake as I did . . . please put aside any preconceived ideas you might have about the story and give it a try.  You might just fall in love with it like I did.  Five out of five stars is what I gave Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt.

 

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