Legend by Eric Blehm

Eric Blehm hits it out of the park again with his latest book, Legend. When I read his best-selling book, Fearless, it was not at all my usual reading genre. I would normally not choose a military drama, but I was drawn to the biography aspect of it.  Navy Seal Team Six had been much in the news and I wanted to read about Adam Brown.  Surprise!  I loved the book.  Well, I am still not drawn to a military drama, but I am drawn to Eric Blehm's writing.  And NO surprise!  I loved the book.

Legend tells the story of Roy Benavidez, a Mexican American, raised in Texas by his migrant working family.  The Benavidez family had first come to the US in the 1800s and fought for independence from Mexico as Texans and Americans. Roy's father liked to tell his children stories about the war then and about family members who fought the Nazis in WWII. He also shared stories from his days as a cowboy.  The moral of many of his stories was "If someone needs help, you help them."  Another family member, Roy's uncle, often told him, "No matter what you do, always try to be your very best."  These two men and their advice to young Roy, shaped him to be a hard-working man of excellence.  Whatever he did, he gave it his all.

Those very characteristics are what set Roy up to be a hero and a legend during the Vietnam War.  Roy was a Green Beret, part of a special forces team with the 240th Assault Helicopter Company.  When a distress call went out from a jungle in Cambodia, Roy volunteered to help.  What happened in that small jungle clearing would become legend among those serving in the Special Operations community. Roy rose above and beyond every expectation of his father and uncle.  He gave his very best to help his severely wounded brothers-in-arms, refusing to leave until every survivor was aboard a helicopter bound for safety.

You'll enjoy this exciting true story and will be riveted to its pages to find out what happens next. Even if, like me, you don't usually go for military books, you'll be inspired by the life of Roy Benavidez. Blogging for Books provided this book to me for free in exchange for my honest review.

The Little Bookshop: A Novel by Nina George

I feel as though I should gush over how marvelous this book was, a true literary delight, enchanting, profound, etc.  However, all I can think to say is this is one of the strangest books I have ever read.  Every character was weird, there was not one person I could relate to.  There is not one character like any person I have ever met in real life.

Perhaps if you were a literature, English, French or women's studies major in college, you may enjoy The Little Paris Bookshop, but I did not.  Now, I love books and I love reading, and I am an intelligent, educated person, but the only reason I finished this book is that I received it from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.  I felt obligated to read the whole thing in order to so. 

The Little Paris Bookshop touts itself as an adventure, and with that I can agree.  The main character travels through France on a barge, stopping at many quaint towns and villages along the way.  That aspect of the book I did enjoy, but it was not enough to redeem it in my mind. 

I chose this book to review because, as I said, I love books, so the premise of a book about a floating bookstore on the Seine River really sounded fascinating.  However, I cannot recommend it-especially for the high price of a hardcover.