Books
‘Izzy’s Fire’: How Reading About The Holocaust Can Help Us Today
Every Sunday, precisely when the clock strikes 4 p.m., I am one of many who fall victim to the Sunday scaries. This past Sunday, my Hail Mary attempt to fend off the scaries was to indulge myself in some premature spring cleaning. One thing led to another, and next thing I knew I was eight chapters deep into one of my favorite books. A wildly out-of-character move on my part, if I do say so myself. But new year, new me.
The book I desperately found myself lost in is called “Izzy’s Fire: Finding Humanity in the Holocaust.” With so many of us having questioned or even lost faith in humanity over the course of the past year, I was looking for examples of human goodness. “Izzy’s Fire” is the story of how 13 members from five Jewish families struggled to defy the odds of the Holocaust and survive with the help of a small, poor Catholic family. Although not a survivor herself, the author, Nancy Wright Beasley, vividly depicts this heart-wrenching story in an engaging and compassionate light. Beginning with their escape from the Kovno Ghetto in Lithuania and ending with their new life in Richmond, Virginia, this book walks you through every step of the unimaginable. It’ll break your heart and renew your faith in humanity all at the same time.
Izzy’s Fire: Finding Humanity In The Holocaust — $19.99
At the age of about 10, I visited the Holocaust Museum in Richmond, Virginia, with my aunt for the first time. Within minutes of walking into the museum, I went from being bright-eyed and bushy-tailed to heavy-hearted and hopeless. I’m not sure what I expected, but I most certainly didn’t expect to meet, let alone talk face-to-face with, a Holocaust survivor himself. It just so happened that the survivor I met that day, and would later visit again, was Jay Ipson, one of the Holocaust Museum’s founders. Jay’s father is Izzy, which makes “Izzy’s Fire” their family’s story. On the day I met Jay, he told me all about his family’s unparalleled struggle to survive the Holocaust, and he suggested I read “Izzy’s Fire,” which I was later able to get a signed copy of. The intensity behind it all is more eye-opening than I can put into words for you.
After meeting Jay, reading “Izzy’s Fire,” and multiple visits to the museum, what I find so inspiring about Jay’s story is not just that he survived, it’s that he’s taken this trauma and crafted it into a devastatingly beautiful narrative for us all to experience. The book lays it all out on the table for the reader, and the museum brings it to life. Jay’s story is one that will stick with me forever and one that I will always encourage others to learn from. Above all else, Jay’s story reminds us that even in the darkest of times, there’s always a silver lining. Jay’s silver lining was having faith in humanity. Ours can be too. So, as we all try to navigate our way through life’s ups and downs and weather whatever storms come our way, I want to leave you with the same reminder Jay wrote to me: “We must always be good to our friends and neighbors.”
The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix, $12.18 Paperback
Release Date: July 2021
Cozy up on your next snow day and read Gary Hendrix’s The Final Girl Support Group.
Author of The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires (2020), Grady Hendrix succeeds again in tapping into our favorite horror films to deliver this mystery. Six young women make up the “Final Girl Support Group.” Each survived horrific massacres that have been turned into successful film franchises. Movies such as Friday The 13th and Halloween actually happened in this version of America. Twenty years later the spotlight has moved on and society has found new monsters and victims. Still, these women sit in a circle of chairs in a church basement trying to figure out how to live their lives. Paranoid Lynnette Tarkington reluctantly participates in group therapy sessions with Dr. Carol Elliot along with fellow survivors Marilyn Torres, who has buried her emotions in wealth; Dani Shipman, who might have killed the wrong person; Julia Campbell, whose encounter left her in a wheelchair; and Heather DeLuca, who is succumbing to addiction. Some of them are in denial about what happened. Some still live in terror, always looking over their shoulders, imprisoned by their own fears.
The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
After one member of this vigilant sisterhood is murdered and a series of persistent attacks threaten the rest, Lynnette becomes increasingly suspicious that the attacks are originating way too close to their inner circle. “Does this ever end?” Lynnette asks. “Will there always be someone out there turning little boys into monsters? Will we always be final girls? Will there always be monsters killing us? How do we stop the snake from eating its own tail?” The book is creepy enough on its face, but Hendrix’s use of narrative tools heightens the unease.
The Final Girl Support Group isn’t necessarily scary, but the plot is action-packed and delivers its share of gore. The novel is an ultimately entertaining and inspiring take on horror movies, trauma, and self-determination. Available on Amazon!
I first read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo this past month after my friend and I swapped our favorite summer books. I opened the book one Saturday morning and couldn’t put it down. Despite the fact that it was published nearly five years ago, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo continues to captivate readers’ interest on BookTok, Bookstagram, and Goodreads.
“The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Evelyn Hugo — $9.42 Paperback/$22.36 Hardcover
This story is about renowned Hollywood actress Evelyn Hugo who, after decades of blockbuster hits, is now 79 and ready to give an exclusive interview after years of dodging the press. But the only one granted access is a little-known journalist named Monique Grant. Though she can’t understand why she’s been chosen, Monique goes to Evelyn’s home and finds out Evelyn doesn’t just want to do an interview — she wants to lay out every piece of her truth for Monique to write and sell her biography.
Though Evelyn won’t answer why she picked Monique to do the job, Monique agrees and Evelyn’s story begins to unfold from her calculated beginnings in Hollywood to the millions she enjoys in the present, each section of her life titled by each of her seven husbands and her reasons for marrying (and divorcing) them. As you journey through Evelyn’s life, it feels as if you’re being granted exclusive access to something you shouldn’t be seeing. It’s hard to believe the characters and events in this book aren’t real celebrities.
To me, a great book is one that makes you forget you’re reading in the first place, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo does exactly that. It’s an instantly captivating book, thanks in part to the story, but mostly to Taylor Jenkins Reid’s writing. Her stories flow smoothly, her characters are complex and realistically flawed, and I happily got lost in the pages until the very end. This is the perfect cozy fall read!
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