A new book will be released on November 18th, "Don't Give Up, Don't Give In: Lessons from An Extraordinary Life" by Louis Zamperini and David Rensin.
The book was completed just two days before Mr. Zamperini's death in July of this year. I have written several posts about Mr. Zamperini before. I read "Devil At My Heels" by Louis Zamperini & David Rensin in 2004. It is where I first learned of his story and wrote a letter to the publisher and received a handwritten reply from Mr. Zamperini himself.
Louis Zamperini is a hero to me and now, after the hugely popular book by Laura Hillenbrand, "Unbroken" he should be a hero to many others. The movie, "Unbroken" will come out at the end of this year, the release date is Christmas. I hope that the movie will do well and will bring Mr. Zamperini's extraordinary life to millions!
I very much look forward to this new book. I will most certainly tell you all about it when I read it!
You can see where this book will go on my bookshelf, it will be beside my copy of "Devil At My Heels". (And that is "Love and Duty" by Ben & Anne Purcell, in case you can't read that title....Col. Purcell was a POW in Vietnam for 5 1/2 years and he also went back and forgave his captors, just as Mr. Zamperini did in Japan.) Read all these books! They are truly inspiring.
A trip to my local library is necessary for me, I do declare. :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, you might notice the book "A Night Before Christmas" by Jacquin Sanders! Make a note of that one too! It is fascinating, it is about the ship, the LEOPOLDVILLE, which was sunk in the English channel during World War II. I met one of the survivors at the travel agency where I worked, Mr. W.S. Connor, I did a post about him and this book. "A Night Before Christmas" is one of my most cherished books. Mr. Connor signed my copy for me, he died in 2000.
DeleteLooking forward to your review of the new book!
ReplyDeleteOh Debra, I just found out about this book! You can bet I will read it as soon as I can get my hands on a copy. I promise I will!
DeleteAlways good to have recommendations about inspiring books, Kay, thank you!
ReplyDeleteYou know how crazy I am about Mr. Zamperini! I was very happy to see that he had worked on another book with David Rensin! Of course, you will hear more about this later!
DeleteAs my "to be read" pile grows higher, i've realized i need to live to be 120 just to get to it all! Thank you, though, for the great recommendations.
ReplyDeleteYes, I know about the pile of books, but if you don't read any other books, I would say to read Devil At My Heels, it's shorter than Unbroken, for one thing, and besides, that is where I first learned of my hero, Louis Zamperini!
Delete"Love and Duty" by Benjamin & Anne Purcell, is a very special book for me too, I met them both. and they signed my copy of the book. xx
I like the title and any reminder to never give up is always a good thing!
ReplyDeleteDoesn't this book sound great? I can't wait to read it, it is exactly what the world needs just now!
DeleteHi Kay, I've never been to your blog before. I saw that NanaDiana follows you and saw that you mentioned Louis Zamperini in your post title and thought, I have to see what she's talking about. I loved "Unbroken". I recommend it to everyone that's interested. I would read portions of it aloud to my granddaughter at bedtime and later she would ask me how Louis was doing. I can not wait for the movie to come out. And as much as I loved this book, I never knew he had co-written another or that he had just finished one before his death. I am heading to the book store to find these jewels. Thank you. And lovely reading your blog. ~Laurie
ReplyDeleteHello!
DeleteI am so happy to meet someone who has the great good sense to see the fine character of Mr. Louis Zamperini! And I have to laugh when I see that you recommend Unbroken to EVERYONE that's interested! Honey, I recommend it to anyone who is BREATHING. ask anyone that I know!! HA!
I am not kidding! I read Devil At My Heels in 2004, you see, so for ten years now, I have been driving everyone CRAZY!! (You can even ask the folks in England when I was there last month!!)
I believe that Mr. Zamperini first wrote his memoirs in the 1950's, if I am not mistaken, and that when he met with David Rensin, the book that he co-wrote with him, "Devil AT My Heels" came out in 2004. This brand new book looks to be sort of a life's lessons from Louie...kind of book, filled with his great wisdom and insight from living such an incredible life of service. I can't wait to read it.
Thank you very much for your comment. You might guess you will see more posts about Louis Zamperini from me!!
OH! And I love Nana Diana, glad you found me there!!
Hi Kay! I hope that you are feeling better. I, too, have been under the weather; my brain is okay, but my body is itchy from having to take more pain killers than I normally do when my body decides it's going to throw a fit! I've been reading through your recent posts and enjoying them so much. Thanks for sharing your lovely photos of beautiful Arabia Mountain. Isn't fall just the most gorgeous time of year! I, too, love Shirley Temple and have enjoyed her movies throughout my life. And thank you for sharing the Peace Prayer of St. Francis. I love it so much, that we had it played at our wedding so many years ago. Kind of funny for this Baptist raised girl who married RC raised Terry in an Episcopal Church! But I do love this beautiful prayer. Unbroken is still in my pile of books to read. So many books to read!!!!! I have to read it before Christmas though. I like to create a good read in my imagination before I see a movie based on it. I was thinking about your comment on our use of exclamation points the other day when I was reading a funny story of Dad's. He had loaded it, over 50 years ago, with multiple exclamation points. So now I know where I got it from! You're so lucky to have your dad, Kay. I've been missing mine for 30 years, but I can feel him beside me as I work on "our" manuscript. Good for you for erasing that ugly stuff in the Gideon Bible. People can disagree on matter of faith and belief; but regardless. they don't have to spread hate. Take care! Feel better! *!!!Hugs!!!*
ReplyDeleteOh thanks so much, Louise, taking the time to read these posts, all written when I was coughing my head off, and then, having such a severe reaction to the drugs, I wondered if I was gonna make it!! Whew, it has been rough, hopefully, I am getting better. And your DAD!!! Of course, he would use exclamation marks! He sounds perfectly wonderful and I know that his daughter has inherited much from him, more than just the love of exclamation marks!
DeleteI am getting to be an old woman now, and not too many things surprise me but finding that someone had written in that Bible, I don't know, why would anyone do that, it is a form of bullying, in a way, like ugly graffiti, who wants to see it?
Just wanted you to know that I have moved Unbroken onto the table by my favorite reading spot. I have about 40 pages to go in my current read, and them I'm reading Unbroken! Happy Weekend!
DeleteAfter you read it, let me know what you think. I had already read about Louis Zamperini in "Devil At My Heels", so I loved "Unbroken" because I was able to find out much more about Louis, and his family and friends. The minute that I read his story I could just picture it on the big screen...here's hoping that they will do a good job of it, the one that will come out at Christmas.
DeleteI will look forward to reading your review. I loved Unbroken and wonder is Devil at my Heels similar to it?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I was at the hospital yesterday for some tests. In the room where I waited was a Gideon Bible. Thinking of you, I opened it up to thumb through and make sure there were no ugly markings in it. There weren't.
Well, Devil At My Heels was written first and I read it 10 years ago. I can only tell you that it is the ONLY time that I have ever written to a publisher about a book, I loved it so, I wanted them to let Mr. Zamperini know that it was a book that just...blew me away, there is just no other way to say it.
DeleteIn Devil At My Heels, I learned about Louie and his story....there was more detail in Unbroken, I found out more about this family and friends, much more details about World War II itself.
Never seen anyone deface a Gideon Bible before, but never mind, that is what erasers are for!
Thank you for the book introduction. It will definitely go on my reading list. My late father was a POW in Germany in WWII. I'm not sure he was ablt to ever forgive his captors. xo Laura
ReplyDeleteI worked as a travel agent in the 80's and the 90's, so I spoke with a lot of World War 2 vets as they made arrangements for their military reunions. Very often, they would tell me about their service. I have great respect for all who have served, but because of my time with the World War 2 vets, I have a special place in my heart for them.
DeleteI will be anxious to hear your review of that book when it comes out, Kay. xo Diana
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