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Because of the Holocaust phase I seem to be going through this year I managed to get a head start in the War Through the Generations WWII Reading Challenge, without setting out to accomplish it.

Thanks to Anna, who commented on one of my reviews to let me know about the challenge.

The War Through the Generations WWII Reading Challenge runs from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2009.

Here are the challenge rules:

To participate in the WWII Reading Challenge, you must commit to reading at least five books throughout the year.  We plan to read more than that, and feel free to do the same!  The books can be fiction or non-fiction, and they can be about any aspect of WWII.  WWII should be the primary or secondary theme, and it doesn’t matter whether the book takes place during the war or after the war.   Children’s literature is acceptable!  (Please visit the WWII Reading List page for some recommendations.)  You can count books you are reading for other challenges, so long as they meet the aforementioned criteria.

You can decide which books you’d like to read right away, or you can choose them during the course of the challenge.  However, when you sign up, we ask that you set a reading goal for the challenge.  At the end of the challenge, those who met or exceeded their reading goals will be entered in a drawing (prizes to be announced later).

warthrugen_button1b1Before I learned about this challenge, I had four down for this year already:

1) The Reader by Bernhard Schlink

2) Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

3) Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli

4) Night by Elie Wiesel

I was thinking of counting A Song for Summer and The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson, but they’re not prominently war-themed, although they’re set along the fringes.

Having read four, I think I’ll read at least two more this year –  I have Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (thank you, NBS!) and Stones in the Water by Donna Jo Napoli in my TBR. I think there may possibly be some more in there, but I’m pegging the count at six to be safe.

I  have never experienced war firsthand, and reading about it in literature makes me realize just how fortunate I am. I hope that by reading these books I honor the memory of all those who lost so much, and I join the rest of the WWII Reading Challenge-takers in taking a stand against war and all its atrocities.

“None of us is in a position to eliminate war, but it is our obligation to denounce it and expose it in all its hideousness. War leaves no victors, only victims.“  – Elie Wiesel

*Photo credits: War Through the Generations