The Zookeeper's Wife

I gave this book 134 pages and then I just couldn't do it anymore. I really wanted to read this story but there was so much superfluous stuff, that in my opinion did not contribute to the story, that made it a chore to read. The point for me when I gave up was after the 1.25 pages of the names of different types of beetles. ( )

Somehow I thought this was going to be narrative non-fiction, or historical fiction, or something from Antonina's point of view. Instead, it's an almost newspaper-journalistic treatment of their lives in Warsaw during WWII. Very moving, very horrifying, very well documented. The only thing that threw me is that Ackerman leaves them at the end of the war -- there's a brief wrap-up, but she doesn't talk about their deaths, or go much into detail about their lives after the war -- it's a brief sketch when we've been immersed in the painting. It kind of works, really, to leave them in memory, perpetually ready to start again. ( )

I had to stop. The little boy had a pig who was his best friend and they took the pig away to be eaten. And that's when I quit. I just can't. It's too sad.

A true story in which the keepers of the Warsaw Zoo saved hundreds of people from Nazi hands.

I really loved this book! I always have a hard time revewing these kind of book though, I mean, how do you review someone's efforts during a time like WW2?
Anyway, Jan & Antonina Zabinski live at and run the Warsaw Zoo which is devastated in 1939 when the German Luftwaffe descends on Poland. Since most of the animals are either killed or stolen by the Germans they open up the zoo to hundreds of displaced Jews during the war.
This book is really easy to read despite the subject matter, I found it very hard to put it down! Right up until the end this book gives you a warm, jolly feeling while you're reading it. It's simply a delight to read despite the horrors & I loved reading about the exploits Jan's underground got up to as well. At one stage the zoo was farming pigs for the Germans so Jan started infecting some of the pigs with worms before slaughtering them & then giving the meat to the Germans!!
Anyway, this is definitely a five star read! :O) ( )