The Only Woman in the Room/ Marie Benedict/ 243 pgs

This is a fictionalization of the early life of Hollywood actress Hedy Lamarr. Hedy was born in Austria to wealthy Jewish parents, though the family didn't practice the religion. Hedy was universally recognized as beautiful. The novel details her marriage to a older, wealthy arms manufacturer who had close ties to the Austrian government as well as Italy's Mussolini. Hedy was treated as a trophy wife but she was actually quite intelligent and learned a lot from those who came to meet with her husband. After a few years she was able to escape her controlling, abusive husband and she made her way to the US where she became a well-known actress. Lesser known, she was a brilliant inventor whose idea for a more accurately controlled torpedo firing system was shot down by the Navy. This technology was later used to create wi-fi. A fascinating look at a woman who was only seen for her beauty, not her brains.

A Gentleman in Moscow / Amor Towles / 496 pgs

This is one of those books that I wouldn't have picked up if it wasn't my book club's selection for September. That said, I ended up really liking it. The book is a fictional account of an aristocrat in his late 20s who is imprisoned during the Bolshevik Revolution in a swanky hotel in Moscow. He stays there for over three decades and sees a lot of the changes in Soviet Russia from his hotel room.

That sounds a bit boring, doesn't it? However, the story of Count Rostov ended up being far more interesting that I would have thought. Throughout the book, he forms friendships with all sorts, young and old, learns a lot about himself and others, and ends up finding a way towards having a fulfilling life while unable to ever leave the confines of the hotel. The ending of the book really made reading the whole thing worthwhile, so please stick with it even if you think it's not your cup of tea.

Stars Are Fire / Anita Shreve / 256 pages

The Stars Are Fire is a strange little book that reeled me in despite myself. I started out the book not really care much for it. I found it hard to drum up sympathy for the main character, Grace, and I realized that the huge fires of 1947 in Maine, which really did happen, was sort of just a plot device that had really little to do with what the story was about. That said, I did find myself wanting to know what would happen next - always the hallmark of a good book. I decided I was not keen on the author's habitual need of spending countless pages just describing all of the things in a room.

Grace is a young mother of two living with a husband that she really no longer loves. She is pregnant and her husband goes to join the volunteer firefighters when Maine starts burning up after a long drought. After Grace and her children are rescued, she finds herself living with a kind, hospitable family and no way of knowing what has become of her husband, or how her small family will survive with no money or possessions left.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz/heather Morris/262 pgs/International Author

You don’t read about the Holocaust and think about people falling in love, but this story tells of a couple who find each other in a most unexpected place, Auschwitz.

Lale Sokolov, a Jewish man from Slovakia, spoke many languages and it was that ability that helped keep him alive in the horrible concentration camp.  Early on during his captivity he was chosen to be one of the tattooists for the camp.  Those chosen for the job were given more and better rations, more freedom of movement around the camp, and better quarters.

It was while Lale was tattooing numbers on a new group of women arrivals that he met his future wife, Gita.  With his tattooist position, Lale was able to smuggle extra food to Gita and her friends and his former barrack mates.  He also established a small trade system with two outside workers, who brought in better food and even chocolate, for gems and jewels taken from prisoner’s belongings.  Lale was given these items by female prisoners assigned to empty all the suitcases.  The women were happy to supply him with the jewels he used for trade.

Lale and Gita eventually left the camp and after a desperate search were reunited after Germany surrendered.  While this is a fictional account of their story, the author spent many hours with Lale piecing together his memories into this moving book.

                                               

Hard Country (Kerney Family #1) / Michael McGarrity / 608 pages

I read this for a book club and I likely would not have picked it up otherwise. However, lately, when I find myself forced to read a western, I end up really enjoying it. This book is no exception. This is the first book in a trilogy, and I actually really want to know what happens next.

The book starts off with a young man and his pregnant wife living in rural Texas, with the designs of building a ranch. However, the wife dies after giving birth to a son and the man's brother and son are killed by horse thieves. The man gives his sister-in-law his infant son to care for while he goes in search of the murderers. Thus begins a story of revenge, family, horses, ranches, war, and the old west spanning three generations and 43 years.

I especially loved that the characters were complex and multi-dimensional. Not every "villain" you meet turns out to be a bad guy and not every person you expect to be a good guy is all that terribly good. I absolutely loved it!

The Dressmaker/Rosalie Ham/275 pgs

After being removed from her small village as a young girl for
something she did innocently to keep herself from harm, Tilly
returns home after many years.  She knows that no one likes or
accepts her because of her past and that of her "crazy" mother.
But, the ladies in town soon realize that the woman they scorned
is now a talented dressmaker who creates clothes that makes
them look good.

While the author was excellent describing the clothing, she was
not as free with story details that would have made the story
more engaging.  It is my understanding that the movie version
is excellent.

Circling the Sun/Paula McLain/366 pgs.

Paula McLain gives an engrossing, fictionalized account of the life of Beryl Markham--a woman horse trainer, airplane pilot, among her other accomplishments. From around the age of 4 years old, Beryl was raised by her father on a farm in Kenya, where she ran free, interacted with the natives, and developed an independent spirit that got her into trouble as she became older. This historical fiction account of Beryl's life gives the reader a glimpse into the political times of Kenya in the early 20th century, the restrictions (and freedoms) of English women living in an "uncivilized" country, just to name a few. This is our August book club read, and I wasn't looking forward to it, since I'm not a big fan of historical fiction. However, this was one of the most interesting books I have read in awhile. Our book club has also read McLain's The Paris Wife, which was equally intriguing. I highly recommend both books by this author!

Between Shades of Grey / Ruth Sepetys / 344 pgs

If you enjoy reading about a part of world history that you are very likely completely unfamiliar with, I definitely recommend this book. The story is of a teenage girl, who, along with her family, is rounded up from her home in Lithuania in the early days of World War II, and sent to concentration camps in Siberia. This is a time in history when Josef Stalin started taking over the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, essentially erasing them from the map, not to emerge again until the break up of the Soviet Union in 1990-1991. It's a sad story, so keep some tissues handy, but ultimately a hopeful one.

The movie based on the book is coming out sometime this year, but its title is "Ashes in the Snow," likely to keep from being confused with that other "Shades of Grey" movie.

Yesternight/ Cat Winters / 400 pages

While this isn't a perfect book, it kept me interested until the very end. I was reminded of books by Simone St. James, who I also enjoy.

Alice Lind is a female psychologist who travels around to rural Oregon schools giving intelligence tests to children. She would prefer to be going to graduate school and doing research but those kinds of things are reserved for the menfolk. Alice is independent and she’s used to doing what she wants. She’s also a bit unsettled and has some dark secrets in her past that will come back to haunt her.

In Gordon Bay, she’s presented with 7-year-old Janie, who is a mathematical genius but also claims to be/have been a 19-year-old woman named Violet Sunday who drowned violently (and yes, I did keep reading her name as Violent Sunday!). Alice does not believe in reincarnation but Janie’s father is convinced and wants Alice to help him prove the truth of his daughter’s wild tales. Janie’s mother, divorced from dad, is completely opposed to this.

I will say that the characters are somewhat shallowly written but the mystery of Janie’s past life and Alice’s past are intriguing enough to keep you reading. I didn’t really find Janie creepy, even when she was speaking as Violet, but let me tell you, the ending took a really dark twist and the epilogue really creeped me out! All in all, an entertaining read.

The Boston Girl / Anita Diamant / 320 pgs

This is the book that my club will be reading in May. After quite a few duds, this one was really good. I had hoped the story would stretch out across the main character's whole life rather than ending in the 30's, but I still really liked it. Addie Baum is the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants. She is born in Boston in 1900, but her much older sisters (10 and 12 years older respectively) remember their homeland, each adapting in different ways to America. The story takes place over about 20 years, from around age 15 to 35, and is a great coming-of-age story. The story alternates from heartwarming to heartbreaking as Addie deals with unsupportive, Old World parents, World War I, the flu epidemic of 1918-1919, and misogyny in the work place. I definitely recommend reading it, especially if you like historical fiction and stories about immigrants.

The Bookseller / Cynthia Swanson / 352 pgs

It wasn't helpful that I just finished an amazing book that dealt with nearly the same theme, the big "What If?" in life. What if I had gone to college at the age of 18 instead of waiting until I was 27? What if I didn't waste my time mooning over this one guy for years and instead been open to another guy who had a thing for me? What if? What if? What if? After the thrill ride that was Dark Matter, reading The Bookseller so soon made the whole thing a bit boring.

The Bookseller, which tells you just about nothing in terms of the overall plot of the book, is about a woman named Kitty Miller who runs a book store in 1962 Denver with her best friend. She is 38 years old, single, and content with her life. However, she wakes up to find herself living in the outskirts of Denver, a 38 year old wife and mother who is estranged from her best friend and has no bookstore. Which reality is real? Which reality does Kitty prefer?

The science fiction lover in me was expecting the story to be resolved in one way, but it was resolved in a completely different way, so I am partially pleased to be surprised, but I felt the ending was still a little ho-hum. Kitty's personality seemed non-existent. Her friend, Frieda, was completely self-absorbed and ridiculous. The husband in the alternate reality was way too perfect. I didn't get through this book nearly as quickly as I had planned, and in fact, ended up reading two books in between. I was going to give the book 2 Stars for being so boring, but since the ending was a bit more interesting, I brought it up to 3 Stars.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society / Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows / 274 pgs

This was entirely one of the sweetest, nicest books I have ever read. The story concerns Juliet, a woman in her early 30's who lived in London during WWII and wrote a newspaper column about a fictional woman living in London during the Blitz. The columns are turned into a book and she goes on a trip around the country in promotion of her book. However, Juliet is just a little tired and ragged after a long war, so when she receives a letter from a man on the island of Guernsey on the subject of one of their shared favorite authors, a whole new adventure for Juliet begins. The stories of the people living on Guernsey fascinate Juliet. Guernsey is an island in the English Channel that really was occupied by German forces for five years during WWII. In the book, one way the islanders dealt with the challenges of being occupied was to form the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. So, though the circumstances of German occupation really did happen, the characters in this book and the Society they formed are fictional. To tell you how such a society formed and how it got its name would be spoilers. You will have to read for yourself!

The entire book is comprised of letters between Juliet, her publisher, her friend in Scotland, and her new friends on Guernsey. I highly recommend the book if you want a fun read. To say its completely light would be wrong, because of the ravages of war are described within, but it is a heartwarming story and it has a happy ending.

This book fulfilled one of the categories in the ReadHarder challenge: Category #14: Read a book about war
It also fulfills one of the categories in the PopSugar Reading challenge: Category #3: Read a book of letters

China Dolls / Lisa See / 383 pages

     This latest book of Lisa See is set in the World War II era from 1939-1948.
It follows the lives of three friends and dancers; Grace, Ruby, and Helen.
Two are Chinese and one is Not!   The stories of these protagonists are so intertwined and totally immersed in the time period that it is difficult to stop reading.  There was so much going on in the United States and it was a tough time to be Asian.  Reading about it now seems like reading about a different mindset that I would hope is gone.  The history and culture are throughout this book and really puts the reader there.  It is a fascinating book and could easily be a school choice for history.  Very good book.

The Girl You Left Behind / Jojo Moyes / 369 pgs

This is one of those books that I would have never read if it were not a book club book. It's also a book that I would have probably given up on if it were not a book club book, because it was a bit of a snorefest. I will put in a disclaimer and say that this is the first Jojo Moyes book I have ever read. Having already been spoiled a year ago or so on the ending of Me Before You, I decided that I would prefer not to read that book, nor its sequel.

In 1916, a French town is occupied by German troops during WWI. Sophie and her sister run a bar/restaurant/hotel and must cook daily meals for their occupiers. Both of their husbands are fighting in the war, both leaving their young sons with their moms. Sophie's husband, Edouard, is an impressionist artist. The Kommandant becomes enamored with a portrait of Sophie that her husband painted of her, but Sophie is arrested and sent away on a train. Seventy years later, a young widow has the portrait, now entitled "The Girl You Left Behind" but soon finds herself embroiled in a fight to keep the painting when the descendants of Edouard and Sophie sue to get the painting back.

I think this may be the third book I've read in as many months where the action flip flops between the past and the present, and every time I find myself not at all caring about what is occurring in the present. I guess I just prefer my historical fiction to stay in the past. The only time the present ought to be mentioned is if time travel is somehow a factor.

The Japanese Lover / Isabel Allende / 322 pgs

I just finished the audiobook of The Japanese Lover, which will be my book club's book to read for our April meeting. The story revolves around Alma, a woman in her 80's who moved recently to an assisted living area. She is cared for by Irina, a Moldovan young woman who immigrated to the United States as a young teenager with her mother. Irina carries a lot of secrets, but so does Alma. Alma was born in Poland and was sent to live with her rich uncle and aunt in California in the early days of WWII. Her parents died in the war and she is raised to be like a daughter to the rich Belascos. It is there that she meets the Japanese gardener's son, Ichimei, and forbidden love eventually blooms. The story goes back and forth between the past (from the 1930s to the 1980s) and the present in 2013.

I don't know. I feel as if we were never really told much about why these characters went from friends as children to lovers in their 20s. The plot feels thin and too conveniently tied up. When Alma marries another man because marrying a Japanese man just wasn't done in that time or social circle, you're led to believe that this other man loves Alma, only to find out that it was never the case. Maybe I should believe that there really wasn't a love triangle at all, but I find myself disappointed that everything just fell neatly into place. The book didn't challenge me in the least. It's good if you want fluff without the smut, but there's no real fun in that.

Orphan Train / Christina Baker Kline / 278 pgs

In 1927, Niamh Power and her family leaves Ireland to make it in New York City, but when a fire claims the lives of Niamh's family, she is left an orphan. Two years later, at the age of 9, she is placed on an orphan train and shipped to Minnesota in hopes of finding a family to take her in and make her one of their own. What happens instead is far more sad and typical of what really happened for hundreds of orphans who were shipped to the middle of the country between the 1850s and 1920s.

The story goes back and forth between Niamh's life and 17 year old Molly, a foster child, who has also had a rough time of it, being shuffled around from family to family. Molly and 91 year old, Vivian Daly, form a bond over similarities in their life while Vivian reminisces about a time when her name was quite different than it is today.

I really enjoyed "Orphan Train" and was really surprised when I finished it. I felt like I wanted the story to keep going, to learn more about Vivian's life, but I understand that the story was supposed to focus more on Vivian's childhood and less on her middle-aged and elderly years. I was annoyed with Molly for most of the book, but enjoyed how it all came together in the end. Definitely recommend for history buffs, and those who like to research historical events after reading a good book.

Orphan #8/Kim van Alkemade/400pgs.

As children, Rachel Rabinowitz and her brother, Sam, are orphaned--their mother is dead, and their father abandons them. This results in their placement in the Hebrew Infant Home. I don't want to give too much of the story away, so suffice it to say that the book follows their lives--particularly Rachel's--from the present day (in this case the 1950's) back to their childhood. Rachel is the narrator of this powerful tale--a story that will stay with the reader past the last page. Highly recommended!

The Aviator's Wife / Melanie Benjamin / 416 pgs

I read The Aviator's Wife for my monthly book club, and I probably would not have picked it up otherwise. That said, I learned a lot from this book. I already knew that I didn't like Charles Lindbergh, but this book sealed the deal for me. The author chose to examine the Lindbergh's marriage through the eyes of Charles' wife, Anne, and I was happy to learn what an amazing woman she was in her own right, even if she was somewhat shadowed by her husband, Lucky Lindy. The book begins with Anne Morrow meeting Lindbergh in Mexico City at Christmas in 1927 and goes forward to just before Lindbergh's death in 1974. It focuses on different important events in their marriage including the kidnapping of their firstborn and Lindbergh's anti-Semitic, America First views leading up to the start of WWII.

At times I was upset that Anne did not stand up more for herself, but considering the times that they lived in, I can understand. Furthermore, it was not in her nature to make waves. She was the intelligent daughter of an ambassador who assumed that her older, more attractive sister would marry well and be in the limelight more, and yet Charles chose Anne to be his "crew" in life. Charles is portrayed as rigid, unfeeling, and it seems his only positive attribute was his desire to protect Anne and their children. Part of me wants to believe that he had very little in terms of positive qualities, and part of me feels that perhaps the book went a bit to far in its negative view of Charles. However, reading some non-fiction items about the Lindberghs on the internet makes me think that perhaps the author was 100% correct in her assessment of Charles.

I definitely recommend this book, especially for a book club. We will be discussing it as a group on the 20th.

Caught / Margaret Peterson 343 p. 20th Century + Time travel

Caught / Margaret Peterson 343 p. 20th Century + Time travel
In the 5th book of Haddix's Missing series, Jonah and Katherine jump from their classroom to 1903, where time travellers are returning Lieserl, Albert Einstein's secret daughter, to her time. They believe time has become frozen because of this aberration. Using the Elucidator, they turn invisible. However, her mother Mileva, is very sharp and captures the Elucidator. She controls the use of it to force them to reveal more than they want. She is intent in keeping her daughter. This is rich in detail about Albert Einstein's early life featuring the time he was a patent clerk. It explains the mores of the time where illegitimacy is a very big deal.

On the Blue Comet / Rosemary Wells 329 p. 20th Century Historical Fiction + Time travel

On the Blue Comet / Rosemary Wells 329 p.

Oscar Ogilvie lives with his dad in Cairo, Illinois. He and his dad love model railroads. They spend many blissful hours together working on their layout. Their Lionel trains corresponded exactly to the real trains of the day, like the Blue Comet, Then the Crash hits. His dad loses his job and their house. Their beloved trains are sold to the local banker to give his dad money to get to California to find work. Oscar goes to live with his frugal, no-frills aunt. His drifter friend gets him into the bank to see his trains when he is a witness to a robbery gone bad. Jump, calls his friend, and he does right into the train layout, finding himself under the tin bench stamped Lionel Company. He is in the world of trains, riding with 'Dutch' to California. His life is peppered with notables of the time, Mr. H (Hitchcock), Dutch Reagon, and even a childhood acquaintance. A most delightful read and the illustrations are wonderful. Any doubt as to the identify of Mr. H, is so detailed in the illustration.