Category: Reading

Books About Books, Magical, Magical Realism, Mystery, Reading, Romance, Time Slip, Women

The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman

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Description

From the beloved New York Times bestselling author of The Marriage of Opposites and the Practical Magic series comes an enchanting novel about love, heartbreak, self-discovery, and the enduring magic of books.

One brilliant June day when Mia Jacob can no longer see a way to survive, the power of words saves her. The Scarlet Letter was written almost two hundred years earlier, but it seems to tell the story of Mia’s mother, Ivy, and their life inside the Community—an oppressive cult in western Massachusetts where contact with the outside world is forbidden, and books are considered evil. But how could this be? How could Nathaniel Hawthorne have so perfectly captured the pain and loss that Mia carries inside her?

Through a journey of heartbreak, love, and time, Mia must abandon the rules she was raised with at the Community. As she does, she realizes that reading can transport you to other worlds or bring them to you, and that readers and writers affect one another in mysterious ways. She learns that time is more fluid than she can imagine, and that love is stronger than any chains that bind you.

As a girl Mia fell in love with a book. Now as a young woman she falls in love with a brilliant writer as she makes her way back in time. But what if Nathaniel Hawthorne never wrote The Scarlet Letter? And what if Mia Jacob never found it on the day she planned to die?

Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote: “A single dream is more powerful than a thousand realities.”

This is the story of one woman’s dream. For a little while it came true.

My Thoughts

Here is another gentle, lovely experience from Alice Hoffman who has an uncanny ability to build resilient, evocative female characters with whom I really want to be friends in real life!

Mia is such a complex character who shifts easily between worlds. Hoffman’s imagining of a true timeslip based on books is breathtaking for this lifelong reader/librarian. And what a story she spins here! I was a little skeptical at first because of the Scarlet Letter and Nathaniel Hawthorne connection because my recollection from learning about Hawthorne in school was that he was kind of a jerk, and I have not enjoyed most of his work. I remember being so angry at the injustice while reading The Scarlet Letter when I was teen.

The irony here is that Mia (and her mother) in the present time are far more controlled and restrained by a man than Mia is when she moves backwards in time to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s world. The juxtaposition of Mia’s experiences are startling and evocative.

Hoffman takes the Scarlet Letter premise and successfully applies it to both time periods, effectively demonstrating the destructive power one man can have over a woman but also giving her a way out.

Alice Hoffman is a true treasure of an author. Every single one of her books is a gift. This is one for my bookshelves.

Highly recommended.

Publication Date: August 15, 2023
Published By: Atria Books
Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy

Books About Books, British, Historical, Makes You Think, Reading, Women

The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson

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Description

An uplifting and inspiring novel based on the true story of a librarian who created an underground shelter during World War II, perfect for readers of The Paris Library or The Last Bookshop in London. 

London, 1944. Clara Button is no ordinary librarian. While the world remains at war, in East London, Clara has created the country’s only underground library, built over the tracks in the unused Bethnal Green tube station. Down here, a whole community thrives with thousands of bunk beds, a nursery, a café, and a theatre offering shelter, solace, and protection from the bombs that fall above.

Along with her glamorous best friend and library assistant Ruby Munroe, Clara ensures the library is the beating heart of life underground. But as the war rages on, the women’s determination to remain strong in the face of adversity is tested to the limits when it seems it may come at the price of keeping those closest to them alive.

My Thoughts

This delightful book will give you ALL the feelings. Part romance, part mystery, part feel-good story, it’s got everything. Character development is nicely done, and paired with a sometimes startling and lovely descriptive narrative.

The importance of books is underscored here in a more serious side to the story. History has shown us that, in wartime, libraries and books are often one of the first targets for destruction. Books are dangerous to fascists, despots, and tyrants because they contain ideas and stories of the good and the different and the beauty in the human race, which is a threat to those who wish to conquer.

For the people in this story, books were a lifeline to a country and lifestyle they hoped would not be destroyed, and one they desperately wanted back.

A beautiful reminder of the power of story.

Published By: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: February 21, 2023
Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy

General, Reading

On Book Clubs & Reading

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I used to be a huge fan of book clubs, and loved running them when I was a practicing librarian. Over the years, my reading habits had become much more solitary and personal, where I’d read exactly what I wanted and that, my friends, is dangerous reading.

I found my reading so limited, generic, and easy that it wasn’t interesting anymore. I was reading in one lane and it was not only unchallenging but also insulating me from things happening around me. I know many people were in emotional overload and cocooned themselves after the Annus Horribilus of 2020. That’s where I was when 2021 began.

At the beginning of 2021, I decided to change my reading habits to include more challenging and unusual books. That continued through 2022, and was boosted considerably when I joined the Fantastic Strangelings Book Club, run by author and bookstore owner Jenny Lawson. You might know Lawson as The Bloggess or through her bestselling books like Furiously Happy. She also owns and operates the Nowhere Bookshop in San Antonio TX.

The Strangelings Book Club is entirely virtual and you can choose when and how to participate. Lawson selects and sends out one book a month, then will usually post her thoughts on social media, which results in lots of commentary and discussion from other Strangelings. Lawson’s selections are unusual and diverse; reading them has been uplifting, uncomfortable, and irresistible. Here are the selections I read in 2022 – all of them are recommended!

There are many other ways I could have connected to these books, but the Strangelings Book Club worked for me. I found the selection eclectic, thoughtful, very emotionally evocative, and a little bit strange. I learned about countries and cultures I knew nothing about and read genres I’d avoided. What I also rediscovered is that there are threads of living that are the same no matter who you are and where you live. Family relationships – parent and child, siblings, extended family, spouses and partners – are the common threads that bind us all together.

If you’re looking for a book club experience in 2023 and you live in the Rochester NY region, there are plenty of opportunities through the Monroe County Library System. There are also book discussions and plenty of author readings offered in Rochester’s indie bookshops. You should make a point to check out two of my favorites: Akimbo Books at 318b East Avenue in downtown Rochester, and Hipocampo Childrens Books at 638 South Avenue.

If you’re looking for something virtual, the Strangelings club is great, but there is a monthly fee for the book. I do also recommend the Litsy app, where you’ll find lots of virtual book clubs, challenges, and other fun reading activities.

Whatever process you use to select your next book to read, make a point to dip your toes in uncharted waters. Learn about other people and cultures and traditions. Revel in the glorious diversity of stories out there. And make sure to get and use a library card!

Books About Books, Makes You Think, Reading

A Saint in Swindon by Alice Jolly

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When a stranger arrives in town, with a bulging blue bag and a whiff of adventure, the neighborhood takes notice. When he asks for his meals to be sent to his room and peace and quiet for reading, curiosity turns to obsession. Each day he stays there, locked in his room, demanding books: Plath, Kafka, Orwell, Lawrence, Fitzgerald, James, Bronte (the eldest), Dickens, Dumas, Kesey – on and on, the stranger never leaving his room. Who exactly is he? What is he reading? And will it be able to save us from the terrible state of the world?

Written by award-winning author Alice Jolly, and based on an idea by the book lovers of Swindon town, this funny and, ultimately, dystopian tale, reminds us of the importance of literature in an increasingly dark world.

I don’t really know what to say about this odd little book except that it can’t be characterized. Is it dystopian? Is it chick lit? Is it speculative fiction? Is it satire? Is allegorical?

I think it’s ALL of the above and more.

The concept is intriguing. Some guy shows up at a B&B, retreats to his room and reads for days on end. The B&B hostess and her nosy friends feel they must read what the guest reads, so they discover classics like Thomas Hardy and Joseph Conrad. But, they cannot shake the idea that the guest is more than he appears and that his reading is somehow subversive. Eventually, their obsession with him destroys their society.

In the end, I was left thinking if it is possible to disrupt the natural order of things through reading. Throughout history, when a civilization is threatened or conquered, the first thing to go are the books, so yeah, I think it’s reasonable to say that reading can be subversive.  This would be a magnificent selection for book clubs, who could spend hours debating the meaning behind A Saint in Swindon.

Publication Date: April 15, 2020
Published By: Fairlight Books
Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy

Books About Books, Fairytales, Fantasy, Magical, Reading

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

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cover165880-mediumFrom the Publisher: Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues–a bee, a key, and a sword–that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library hidden far below the surface of the earth.

What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians–it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also of those who are intent on its destruction. Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose–in both the mysterious book and in his own life.

This is a tough one for me. I confess, I did not love this book. I *liked* it well enough, but found the structure disconcerting. I sometimes struggle with focusing on books that alternate stories with each chapter, which is why this did not fully resonate with me. I kept wanting to read the Zachary Ezra Rawlins narrative and got annoyed that it kept being interrupted by the alternating fairytale chapters. Yes, it all comes together in the end, but the format kept me disconnected and made the narrative drag. It didn’t help that I was reading this in e-format. If I’d hard a print copy, I would have totally skipped around the chapters to satisfy my curiosity.

At the same time, this is a book filled with gorgeous language and description, the fairyland of my childhood dreams where one can get lost for centuries among all the stories in the world. Could there be a better place? I think not. I did enjoy the DungeonMaster/RPG approach to telling Zachary’s story, which at times made me feel as those I was inside the story, and I really enjoyed the characters.

I am 100% certain that fans of The Night Circus will eat this up. Morgenstern’s writing gets ALL the adjectives – lovely, luminous, lyrical, etc. and I predict this will appear on all the “Best of 2019” lists.

Publication Date: November 5, 2019
Published By: Doubleday
Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy

Reading

What the Neighbors Read Last Year

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Social media has been awash the last couple weeks with “Top Ten Reads of 2018” or lists of all the books people read last year. That made me wonder what the people of Monroe County borrowed, read, and watched in 2018. My curiosity was satisfied by three eclectic lists. Here they are, the Top Ten Books, DVDs, and E-books Borrowed from Monroe County Libraries in 2018!

Ten Most Borrowed Print Books

 

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn
The Rooster Bar by John Grisham
Wonder by R. J. Palacio
The Fallen by David Baldacci
The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande
Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly
The Midnight Line by Lee Child
The President is Missing by James Patterson & Bill Clinton
Fifty Fifty by James Patterson

Ten Most Borrowed DVDs

Wonder Woman
Wonder
Coco
Dunkirk
Black Panther
Despicable Me 3
The Shape of Water
Hidden Figures
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2
Spider-Man Homecoming

Ten Most Borrowed E-Books

The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
Camino Island by John Grisham
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Midnight Line by Lee Child
Origin by Dan Brown
The Rooster Bar by John Grisham
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J. D. Vance
Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty
Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

Please note: this content was separated from any personally identifiable information on the borrowers before it was shared with me, in my capacity as Director of the Monroe County Library System.

Reading

2019 Reading Challenge – READO!

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For several years, staff in the Monroe County Library System have participated in a year-long reading challenge. This year, we’re using a version of BINGO called READO. The concept is the same – make a line vertically, horizontally, or diagonally or get the 4 corners – and win a prize.

We are in the process of creating a number of READO boards, and thought we’d share them here. While only MCLS staff are eligible for monthly drawings, some of you might enjoy playing along. Here are the first three boards: Reading Experiences, World Literature, and Science Fiction & Fantasy Authors.

READO World Lit

READO experiences

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Watch this blog for more boards throughout January.

Enjoy!

Reading

Americans Are Reading Less

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0595C70A-75E1-4F76-A2F2-5D1643404AB3This article in the New Yorker came through my news feed this morning. Apparently according to the U.S. Department of Labor, fewer than 20% of Americans read. That number is surprisingly low, in my opinion. So can we say 1 in 5 people is a reader? I suppose I’m disqualified from that type of comparison considering I work in a library and am surrounded by readers, but let’s consider my family.

I have 6 living siblings ranging in age from 72 to 54. Out of those 7, four of us are readers (me, Betsy, Mary & Margaret). So, 4 out of 7 is much higher than 20%. This is obviously not a scientific examination of data, but does make me question the results shared in the article.

Another piece of interesting information shared by the author is that, while fewer Americans are reading, the ones who do read are reading slightly more.

What would be interesting is a follow up to this article that looks at *what* people read. I recently conducted some job interviews, and one of the questions asked was “What are you reading?” More than one person shared that they don’t read books much, but they are voracious readers of news and online content. To me, that qualifies as reading. I have to wonder how the Department of Labor phrased their question(s) about reading? Did they ask if people had read a book, or if they read for pleasure? If it was the former, I can understand the 20% (maybe); if it was the latter, I’m calling BS on these results.

What do you say, readers?

 

Great American Read, Reading

The Great American Read…Or Not

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EAC32B51-3A10-4BFE-8B22-C370ED286BC5A couple weeks ago, I posted here about the just-released list of 100 books that comprise “The Great American Read,” a new series on PBS that will examine the books that supposedly define America.

Since that list came out, there has been considerable buzz online and in real life about what’s included. The discussions I’ve heard personally have included:

  • “Fifty Shades of Grey?” You have GOT to be kidding! (I’ve heard this one consistently from all my reader friends.)
  • There aren’t enough women.
  • There aren’t enough People of Color.
  • There are too many kids books.
  • There aren’t enough kids books.
  • “I thought this was just American authors!”
  • There isn’t enough diversity – “America is the original Melting Pot, right?”
  • “These are all the books you’re supposed to read in school but instead get by with Spark Notes.”
  • “I lost all respect for this list when I saw the Left-Behind series included.”

While the list isn’t perfect by any means, I think it has already started what PBS hoped for – intense discussion about books and stories, about how reading has changed our lives. And that’s a good thing.

People are thinking deeply about this from all perspectives – how they love or hate some of the titles included, what books they’d recommend instead of the ones on the list, which authors deserve a second look, and so on.

I’ve seen some good alternate lists pop up in my news feeds that have served to plump up my TBR (To Be Read) list. For example, this one shared by Tate DeCaro today – Twenty-One Books You Don’t Have to Read contains some really fascinating suggestions to the books “everyone has read.”

You might not be impressed with The Great American Read list, and that’s just fine. It means you have an opinion about books and reading and you’re talking about it. And that is never a bad thing!