I stayed up late to finish this book. Something I haven't done in a long time. Joshilyn Jackson's use of language was so fun. The book read so easily, yet subjects covered were quite heavy - racism in the South, mixed race children, care of older humans. Leia's character was finely drawn. I felt I knew her, empatized with her problems and admired her thoughtfulness with Batman. On top of all this a couple of mystery elements were effectively thrown into the mix.

Please don't follow the 50 page rule on this book. It is slow to start but I found it very interesting after about page 40. There were many things around the corner that you don't expect. I found all the characters interesting with good development for the size of their part in the novel. The writing was engaging: how did he come up with that turn of phrase? That is what kept me going until the plot engaged me. Here are a couple of my favorite lines:

"His grandmother had been alive such a long time that she had traded one face for another. Or perhaps someone had stolen the first one."

"…and her figure, ignored for so many years, finally packed up and trotted off, leaving her with a body she didn't recognize…"

I like that all the subplots in the novel were not nearly packaged up in the end. There are still things to think about when this novel is done. That is the sign of a good novel to me – how long I think about it after I have finished reading it.

This book was a very long 381 pages. The first 100 pages read like treacle, the middle read well, and the end seemed to never come. The content, women's lives during the occupation of Paris by the Nazis is very important information that should not be lost. But many people will give up on this book because the organization is difficult to follow. For that I am sad. It seemed to me the parts that were fleshed out with historical context were fascinating. But especially the beginning did not have sufficient historical context to hold the attention. It seemed to be bits and pieces of a story. Because of its presentation I don't think I can recall much of the history that I read. There were two quotes, already mentioned in previous reviews that increased my understanding of the world.

I classify books as "Easy to put down" or "Easy to pick up". Shelter is an easy to pick up book. You wanted to get back to it to find out how the defining event of the novel came to be.
I wanted to read this book for the characters – a birth family, a mother, a son, a father, a son's married family. The characters were well done; you got to know them and the reasons for their behavior. It is true that children really never know their parents. There is so much more to a life than parenting. The sense of duty and independence on the part of the son were believable and sympatric.
The ending was hinted at so it wasn't just a surprise out of nowhere. I appreciate a novelist's ability to cause use to say to ourselves, "I should have seen that coming!"
I have wondered how plausible the ending scene with the father and son really was, given the lack of emotional expression within their culture. After reflection I have decided that it was plausible, but it makes me want to know about their life after the end of the novel. Highest praise for a novel is when I keep thinking about it after I have finished reading it

I chose War Reporter because of my goal to read a book from every country and Serbia was still on the my list. I was hesitant because of it's description as 'a riveting thriller and a heart wrenching love story.' I'm not a thriller/love story reader. I like to consider myself a more substantial reader, Ha! This book offers something for all of us.

It was so cool to read about characters, Ratko Mladic and Vukcevic that were in the news the week I finished the book. And I learned more history. I knew of the genocide in Serbia but I didn't know much about the Srebrenica massacre.

'Because I think the real truth, emotional truth, can be found in fiction. I spent a career asking what happened and why-facts, facts, facts, events, analysis. Now I wanted to answer the question, what was it like? How do we actually experience our lives? Emotions, characters, relationships. It's a deeper truth that non-fiction can't reach, and that is ultimately more interesting.' This is from an 2011 interview of Martin Fletcher by Robert A. Cohn.

I do read to learn emotional truth. It felt truthful when Nina tells Tom that it is a story to him but it is her life, her country.