Reading About The Holocaust During the Holidays

By Kelsey A. Liebenson-Morse

Like any respectable book-a-holic, I cannot leave the library with fewer than three to five books. During a recent trip, I picked up Bernhard Schlink’s The Reader, and then Tatiana de Rosnay’s Sarah’s Key. After I got them home, I realized it might be grim to read two Holocaust stories simultaneously during the holidays, but once the selection has been made, the books must be read.

The Reader tells the story of fifteen-year old Michael Berg, a German boy who becomes involved in a passionate physical, mental and philosophical affair with a woman twice his age....