The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

December 7, 2024

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

In 1939, Odile Souchet lands her dream job, at the American Library in Paris, where she finds the place she is meant to be and the friends she has been seeking. But the city is on the brink of war and when the Nazis occupy Paris, the staff at the American Library is determined to remain open and fight the Nazis with the power of books. Forty years later in a small town in Montana, a teenage girl strikes up a friendship with her reclusive neighbor, a French widow.

Another book that makes me proud to be a librarian. The novel has a dual timeline, one set during World War II and the other in 1980s Montana. Personally I found the World War II sections more interesting, since the 1980s parts have a lot of teenaged angst. Based on fact, the story honors the librarians who worked to protect the staff, the patrons and their collection. The American Library still exists today. Librarians are bad-ass - never forget it. My favorite quote: "the Nazis shot a librarian? That's like shooting a doctor!"

Recommended for readers who enjoy historical fiction set in France.

The original American Library in Paris

The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

July 17, 2024

The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

Kiera is a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, and her assistant is Caz, a spider plant who suffers from anxiety (he's especially paranoid about goats and fish). When the city is taken over by rebels and the library is engulfed in flames, Kiera and Caz flee (along with a few crates of spell books) to the far north to the island of Caltrey, Kiera's birthplace. But the village has fallen on hard times, and Kiera decides that if they are here to stay, she will need to figure out how to fix what is wrong with the village. The only problem is, it's illegal for non-wizards to perform magic spells.

Charming romantasy, perfect for a summer read on the beach or on your patio at home, although it would also make a cozy winter read, wrapped up in your favorite throw. And there are merhorses! Giant irridescent seahorses! What a wonderful creation! Plus Caz the spider plant and Meep the cactus. Highly recommended for readers who enjoy a sweet fantasy or romance, or both, also for librarians and those who respect books and knowledge.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Merhorse!

The Keeper of Hidden Books by Madeline Martin

July 22, 2023

The Keeper of Hidden Books by Madeline Martin

Zofia and her best friend Janina live in Warsaw. While they are preparing for war, neither girl believes that war will come to their city. Zofia's happy place has always been books, and she loves her job at the Warsaw public library. But then the Nazis occupy the city, and their lives change in ways neither could have imagined. As a Jew, Janina and her family are forced to move to the Warsaw ghetto. When the Nazis begin to first confiscate and then destroy books, Zofia and her friends are determined to hide as many books as possible, even if it costs them their freedom or their lives. At the same time, they work to make sure that the citizens of Warsaw and the ghetto have access to books.

A tribute to literature, the power of books, and the ingenuity of the people of Warsaw and the Warsaw ghetto. People under the age of 40 frequently don't understand the power of books, having grown up with the Internet, cellphones, and cable TV.

Another book that makes me proud to be a librarian. If you enjoyed The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek, this title will appeal to you. People who love books will always find a way.

Librarians rock. Never forget it.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

December 22, 2021

The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki

Following the death of his father, Benny Oh begins to hear voices. Not just any voices - he hears items like a shoe, vegetables, furniture, and Christmas decorations speaking to him. His depressed mother develops hoarding tendencies, which doesn't help Benny's situation. He finds solace in the quiet of a large public library, where the books speak to him but in an orderly fashion, and he meets a variety of street people who also take refuge there. 

Although I liked the story and it held my attention, it's very difficult to categorize or describe. The narrator is a book that tells Benny's story. As a librarian at a public library for 30 years, I recognized many of the characters that Benny encounters at his public library. Libraries are safe havens for many people who otherwise don't fit in or have nowhere else to go. Books and libraries can save us by finding a way out of our own heads - I have always known this. It's also about how we fill our emptiness. Some people fill their emptiness with alcohol or drugs or excitement; others lean toward books, art, and objects.

I really like the author's previous book, A Tale for the Time Being. Ozeki tends to write in an experimental style. While this isn't for everyone, readers of literary fiction will find a lot to think about.

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

September 7, 2021

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

Belle da Costa Greene was the librarian of J. P. Morgan's personal library. But Belle was hiding a secret that could have spelled disaster for her if it was revealed: she was born Belle Greener, daughter of the first black man to graduate from Harvard. She passes as white, claiming to be of Portuguese descent to account for her darker complexion. 

As a librarian, I expected to enjoy this historical novel more than I did. I was looking for more details about the materials that Belle sourced and curated. But most of the emphasis is on the artwork that she acquired: she was more of an art dealer than a librarian. There was also a lot more about society and Belle's difficulties in passing for white. I skimmed the last half of the book. I usually like Marie Benedict's books since they focus on largely unknown women, but I felt the writing here was mediocre. Belle's story deserved better.

Belle da Costa Greene

The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate

June 16, 2020

The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate

As the Civil War rages, slaves Hannie Gossett, her mother, and siblings are sent by their owner from Louisiana to his property in Texas, as a way to protect his assets.  But the relative sent to safeguard the slaves on their journey begins selling them off at the Texas towns they pass through.  Ten years after the end of the Civil War, Hannie still lives at the Gossetts’ Louisiana plantation, but as part of a group of sharecroppers who have worked to gain ownership of their land.  But the plantation owner has gone missing, and the sharecroppers fear that if he dies, his wife will burn the deeds to the sharecroppers’ property.  Hannie breaks into the main house, determined to find the deed, only to find that Mr. Gossett’s mixed race daughter Juneau Jane is there as well, searching for documents that will protect her and her mother (Mr. Gossett's mulatto "fancy woman").  Determined to track down Mr. Gossett or his business partner, Hannie disguises herself as a boy and travels with Gossett’s two daughters from Louisiana to Texas to try and locate one of the men, or at least find out what happened to Gossett.

Along the way, the girls discover a newspaper column called Lost Friends, which prints letters for people (mostly former slaves) seeking lost family members.  They begin to collect more stories from the people they meet on their quest, and Hannie vows to help as many of them as she can, while searching for her own lost family.

In a parallel story, Benny Silva takes a job as an English teacher in Augustine, Texas, the town founded by the Gossett family.  The school is woefully short of supplies, and she contacts Nathan Gossett, the heir to the Gossett house, about donating books from the Gossett library to the school.  Little do either of them suspect that they are opening up a long-sealed chapter of local history.

Like her previous novel (Before We Were Yours), Wingate shines a spotlight on a hidden or forgotten piece of history.  The newspaper excerpts printed between the chapters really humanize the true horror of slavery even among those who treated their slaves "well":  of men owning other people and selling them off with no more thought than they would their cattle, often being sold repeatedly; of the separation of families; of the lifelong desire and need to find those families again, with the search sometimes lasting over 40 years; and of the injustices that former slaves continued to suffer, even after freedom.

Moving and at times gut-wrenching, I highly recommend this historical novel to anyone who wants to learn more about unknown history and injustices that last to this day.

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

April 10, 2020

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

Irene is a Librarian with the Invisible Library, which houses copies of all books ever created.  Her latest assignment is to secure a copy of Grimm's fairy tales that includes a previously unknown tale, from an alternate Victorian London.  She is accompanied by a new trainee, Kai, although she's not sure if he is there to assist her or watch her.  The assignment seems straight-forward at first, until the Librarian-in-Residence in the alternate world advises them that the book's owner was a vampire who was brutally murdered, and the book has vanished.  What seemed a simple "get in and get out" task becomes much more complicated by the occult residents of the alternate world, and Irene and Kai find themselves in mortal danger from unknown enemies.

I usually gravitate toward any book that has "library" in the title but it took me a while to get into this one.  I actually started it once before but put it aside.  The characters are decent but the plot is kind of hazy with too many characters and types (vampires, Fae folk, dashing detectives, clockwork animals, etc.).  There were also characters who were introduced, like the elder Miss Olga Retrograde, who seemed like they were going to add something interesting to the story but then were never referred to again.  This title is the first in a series so maybe some of these characters will recur later.  While the story was okay, it definitely had a YA feel and I'm not sure I found it engaging enough to continue with the series.

I haven't been reading as much as usual lately.  I do a lot of my reading on my commute to work, and with being at home so much, I've been doing other things.  Also, my sweet little dog Asia died in her sleep on Monday night.  I adopted her when she was 10-1/2 so I knew there was a chance she wouldn't be with me for long, but I hoped it would be more than 18 months.  Asia was just the best little girl, so peaceful and unfussy, and she left me the same way she lived. 😥

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

November 12, 2019

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

The son of a New Orleans fortuneteller, Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student majoring in Emerging Media studies, specifically gaming.  Shortly before the new term begins, Zachary is browsing in the university library when he comes across an old book called Sweet Sorrows which appears to be a collection of short stories.  He begins to read and is shocked to find a story from his own life in the book.  He sets out to discover the origin and meaning of the book, a quest that will take him to an underground fantasy world centering on a magical library.

There is definitely a gaming theme and references to role playing games (RPG).  The player is on a quest or journey, seeking something or someone, or trying to get to a particular place or time.  I play hidden object games sometimes, and it's common for the player's progress to be barred by a locked or blocked door (or gate, window, staircase, etc.).  In order to move forward, the player needs to search the area to find the key or objects that will assist in opening the door, sometimes having to follow instructions on how to use an object.  The player often collects items that may be useful later; unlocks and explores multiple levels; encounters other players or beings who may or may not be helpful, and decide if they are friend or foe; and is forced to choose the right way to proceed.  Players sometimes change identities or assume disguises.

I loved Morgenstern’s first book The Night Circus, also a fantasy, from the first page.  I don’t like circuses, but this was one circus that I would gladly have sought out.  I liked The Starless Sea, her second book, but I didn’t love it.  It’s basically a book-within-a-book (or three books within a book), which usually really appeals to me, and the plot reminds me of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere (the main character is an everyman thrust into an extraordinary and fantastical situation).  The cover art is beautiful and almost three dimensional.  The story is full of literary illusions, and beautiful and fantastic descriptions of magical places, and in order for the book to make any sense, you have to put it in the context of an elaborate video game.  The storyline is confusing because there are so many parts and so many things that are not fully explained.  For example, the reader is told repeatedly that the pirate, the first character introduced in the book, isn't really a pirate but is actually a metaphor, but the reader is never told what he is a metaphor for.  When you get to the end of the book, you almost need to go back to the beginning and start over.  When the audiobook is released, I may try listening to it.