Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

I just finished Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and all I can say is WOW.  Erin let me borrow this book (thank you!) and I was skeptical about it.  It is not the type of books I usually read.  By usually I mean never.  I have had this on the shelf for 6 months or more and always kept moving it to the back of the reading list.  Finally I decided to give it a try.  It was a page turner for me that has easily moved into my top 5 favorite books.  The story is of Louie Zamperini who was a hell raiser in his youth and ended up channeling his spirits to running.  He turned into one of the greatest runners the nation had seen.  He even competed in the 1936 Olympics.   With the war beginning he joined the Army Air Corps as a bombardier.  On a mission over the pacific his plane went down.  That is when the story gets even more interesting and exciting.  The tale continues as he is stranded at sea and then a POW in camps throughout Japan.  This true story of heroism and bravery is fantastic.  The detailed writing and personal accounts from many POWs makes it even more real and enthralling.  I can’t recommend this book enough; it is one that I will be reading again for sure.

The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

I finished The Namesake a few days ago and I really enjoyed the read.  I really got into quickly and it was a nice flowing read.  It is about a Bengali family and their life.  The parents were born and raised in Calcutta and moved to the USA after their arranged marriage.  The two children were born in the U.S. and work to balance the clashing cultures and values of society and their family. It is interesting to read about the adjustment for the parents into the American way of life and the children as they try and live the American lifestyle outside of the home and the traditional Indian lifestyle in the home.  The characters are interesting and well developed.  I found myself very fond of all of the characters and was able to relate to each person differently.  Many times I find myself "rooting" for a specific character and their wants and desires but it in this book I found myself equally interested and curious about all the characters.  I would thoroughly enjoyed this book and would high recommend it! 

After looking at another review Google has a more enticing way of describing the book so here is the Amazon.com description:
The Namesake is a finely wrought, deeply moving family drama that illuminates this acclaimed author's signature themes: the immigrant experience, the clash of cultures, the tangled ties between generations.
The Namesake takes the Ganguli family from their tradition-bound life in Calcutta through their fraught transformation into Americans. On the heels of an arranged wedding, Ashoke and Ashima Ganguli settle in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Ashoke does his best to adapt while his wife pines for home. When their son, Gogol, is born, the task of naming him betrays their hope of respecting old ways in a new world. And we watch as Gogol stumbles along the first-generation path, strewn with conflicting loyalties, comic detours, and wrenching love affairs.
With empathy and penetrating insight, Lahiri explores the expectations bestowed on us by our parents and the means by which we come to define who we are.