The Boxcar Librarian by Brianna Labuskes

 

My thoughts

I found this story interesting. It had me a bit confused at times as it was kind of hard to keep the three main characters separated. All three are female and seem all about books and the library. The boxcar library. But still overall it was a good book. Kept me reading.

This story is told from three different female's povs. 

Millie Lang is an editor in Washington, DC 1936. She left Texas to find a job. She was having a hard time in the boarding house she lived it. The other ladies made fun of her about everything. 

Alice Monroe in Misoula, Montana 1924. Alice lives with her father. Alice started the boxcar library. She wanted to bring books to the minors so they would have something to do other than the mining. To possibly enhance their lives. 

Colette Durand Hell Raising' Gulch, Montana 1914. Colette also lives with her father. He was a copper minor and rallied for better conditions. Better pay. Better everything. He spoke a lot about labor unions and the owners of the mines didn't like that. Not at all. 

This was an interesting book. There was a murder. A betrayal. A love story. It had a lot going on. I was shocked a few time at who was actually bad. I enjoyed it but didn't love it. I am still a bit confused about things but did like this book for the most part. It's a work of fiction but based on real things the author learned about the libraries. 

I didn't connect with any of the characters. I liked Alice though.  She was strong and resilient.  She just seemed to go after life. Especially at the end of this story. She gave life her all. Even at the end. Even as she died. 

Overall this was a good story. Not great or wowing, but good. I would recommend it. It's well worth reading/listening too.

Thank you #NetGalley, #WilliamMorrow, for this arc. 

About

Inspired by true events, a thrilling Depression-era novel from the author of The Librarian of Burned Books about a woman’s quest to uncover a mystery surrounding a local librarian and the Boxcar Library—a converted mining train that brought books to isolated rural towns in Montana.

When Works Progress Administration (WPA) editor Millie Lang finds herself on the wrong end of a potential political scandal, she’s shipped off to Montana to work on the state’s American Guide Series—travel books intended to put the nation’s destitute writers to work.

Millie arrives to an eclectic staff claiming their missed deadlines are due to sabotage, possibly from the state’s powerful Copper Kings who don’t want their long and bloody history with union organizers aired for the rest of the country to read. But Millie begins to suspect that the answer might instead lie with the town’s mysterious librarian, Alice Monroe.

More than a decade earlier, Alice Monroe created the Boxcar Library in order to deliver books to isolated mining towns where men longed for entertainment and connection. Alice thought she found the perfect librarian to staff the train car in Colette Durand, a miner’s daughter with a shotgun and too many secrets behind her eyes. 

Now, no one in Missoula will tell Millie why both Alice and Colette went out on the inaugural journey of the Boxcar Library, but only Alice returned.

The three women’s stories dramatically converge in the search to uncover what someone is so desperately trying to what happened to Colette Durand.

Inspired by the fascinating, true history of Missoula’s Boxcar Library, the novel blends the story of the strong, courageous women who survived and thrived in the rough and rowdy West with that of the power of standing together to fight for workers’ lives. And through it all shines the capacity of books to provide connection and light to those who need it most.

Michael Without Apology by Catherine Ryan Hyde

 

My thoughts

A favorite author of mine. This book is such a good one. Both heartwarming and heartbreaking. Catherine Ryan Hyde always gives you something to think about and makes you shed lots of tears. I've read so many of her books and will continue too. 

There are a few characters that you will love. Each has a story. Tim is the janitor and has always been stick thin. He hates how he looks. Rex, who is 103 years old, was an olympic silver medalist during Hitler's reign. At the start of it. Rex was only fifteen at that time. Tanya is the mother of five and has a lot to say also. Madeleine is an older women who had a double mastectomy and whom Michael has a fling with. Then there is the professor who started it all, Robert Dunning. He is the professor of Michael's film class he's taking. The one who has scars of his own. Very visible scars that he calls attention to the first day. He refuses to hide them. Michael has scars too. He's kept them hidden though. He was afraid of people's reaction. Until he met Mr Dunning...

This book takes you through each of the of each people lives I named. How they came to meet Michael and how he interacted with each. Though he really only met them briefly they all left a huge imprint on his life. Made him into the adult and husband he was to be.

Michael is raised from age eight up by his adoptive parents. They were his foster parents and they loved him so unconditionally and adopted him. His birth parents gave them full freedom to do so. It hurt Michael and he felt like it was because of what happened to him. He loved his adoptive parents unconditionally also. He didn't want to see his birth parents ever. Michael had a good life. He was loved and loved his parents. 

You find out everything about what happened to Michael and each of the people he interviewed and why he did this interview. How it developed and ended. All you need is there. No questions left unanswered. 

This is a very emotional story that had me weeping in parts. You just never know what scars a person is carrying. Be wary of judgement as it could be something that can't be helped.

Thank you #NetGalley, #LakeUnion, #Brillance, for this ARC.

About

A film student struggling with self-acceptance finally stops looking away from his traumatic past in a powerful novel by New York Times bestselling author Catherine Ryan Hyde.

Michael Woodbine was seven years old when a near-fatal fireworks accident scarred him and led to his placement in foster care. Now a college freshman, he is still trying to hide the effects of his trauma from his classmates, his adoptive family, and himself.

When Michael signs up for a film class, he meets Robert Dunning, a teacher who wears his own scars unapologetically. Robert encourages Michael to make a documentary that explores body image and self-perception. Michael places an ad seeking people who feel unattractive and rejected by society—and is surprised to learn that this is essentially everyone. Although some participants are recovering from injuries or surgeries, others are dealing with more everyday factors like aging or the changes to a body from giving birth.

As he collects these stories—and finally tells his own—Michael feels more connected to the world than he ever has before. But he knows his journey of self-acceptance has one more obstacle: his crushing doubts about why his birth parents wouldn’t fight to keep him.

The Fisherman's Gift by Julia R. Kelly

 

My thoughts

This was an unusual story. While I really enjoyed it for the most part I also found parts to be tedious. I didn’t connect with any of the characters and to me it’s important to do that. Overall though it was an ok book.

This is a heartbreaking story. A woman, Dorothy, loses her child, Moses, to the sea, the love of her life, Joseph, to fate, and her husband, Willian, from the lies. Many secrets are kept and most of the women in the town are brutally cruel to her. Especially Agnes. Agnes was head over heals in love with Joseph and convinced that he would have been hers if not for Dorothy. Oh how she hated Dorothy.

This story is well written and will take your breath away in places. It keeps you wanting to know who this child is. The one found on the beach. The one that looks so much like Moses. The one who can't speak. Who doesn't seem to remember who he is or where he is from. Then the preacher asks Dorothy to care for him for a while. His wife just gave birth and it's a bit much. Even with the help they have. At first Dorothy is very apprehensive about it. She doesn't want to be taken back to that time. But she agrees and from there she finds her way. Or does she? 

Dorothy and Joseph should have been together. They should have made a life together. They should have had years of happiness. And no one really deserved the abuse that Agness ultimately ended up with. Until she grew tired of it.

Thank you #NetGalley, #Simon&Schuster for this ARC.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4. 

About

The Light Between Oceans meets The Snow Child in this novel set in a Scottish village in the weeks after a young boy mysteriously washes up on shore, causing the buried secrets of the insular community to come to light and rekindling an old love story.

It’s 1900 and Skerry, a small Scottish fishing village, is destined for an unyielding winter. During a storm, a young boy washes up on the shore. He bears an uncanny resemblance to teacher Dorothy’s son, lost to the sea at the same age many years before, his body never found.

The village is soon snowed in, and Dorothy agrees to look after the child until they can uncover the mystery of his origins. But over time, the lines between reality and desperate hope start to blur as the boy reminds Dorothy more and more of her own lost child.

The boy’s arrival also finally forces Dorothy to face the truth about her brief but passionate love affair with Joseph, the fisherman who found the boy on the shore and who has been the subject of whispers connecting him to the drowning of Dorothy’s son years earlier.

As the past rises to meet the present, long-buried secrets are unearthed within this tight-knit community, and the child’s arrival becomes a catalyst for something far greater than any of them could imagine.

Strangers In Time by David Baldacci

 

My thoughts

I read A CALAMITY OF SOULS by this same author and loved it. This one is also excellent. It's more about younger people. Two kids during WW2 London. 

Molly has been away from home for five years. Sent to a safe place during the war. When she arrives home the only person to greet her is her nanny. Her mom and dad are both gone. All of the help is also gone. Molly in in a whole different place than she was. Alone and wanting nothing more than her mother. Her mom is in an institution because she had a breakdown after some horrific things happened to her. Molly's dad is missing and it seems no one knows where he is or what he's doing.

Charlie lives with his grandmother. Both of his parents were killed. His dad at Dunkirk and his mother from a bomb outside the school she had just left Charlie at.  Charlie does what he has to to survive. He's learned a few tricks that help him to get things that he and his grandmother need. Though his grandmother would never approve of him stealing. She works hard for them both to survive this crazy war. 

Then there is Mr Oliver. Ignasius Oliver. He owns the bookkeep that use to belong to his late wife. His wife died and he grieves her still. When he meets Molly and Charlie things will change in his life in ways he didn't know possible. He takes the two in and does the best he can to keep them safe and fed. Oliver works for the government assisting people during air raids and making sure that things are done correctly during this time of war. He's a very good man. I loved him dearly.

A lot happens in this story and it will hold you captive until the very end. It's well written and the characters are so likable. The two teen children will worm into your heart and Mr Oliver is beyond description. He's such a good person. He helps Charlie and Molly all throughout this story even before they come to live with him. 

The ending is great also. It sums everything up so you have no lose ends to worry about.

Thank you #NetGalley, #GrandCentralPublising, for this arc. 

About

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Calamity of Souls comes David Baldacci’s newest novel, set in London in 1944, about a bereaved book shop owner and two teenagers scarred by the second world war, and the healing and hope they find in one another.

Fourteen-year-old Charlie Matters is up to no good, but for a very good reason. Without parents, peerage, or merit, ducking school but barred from actual work, he steals what he needs, living day-to-day until he’s old enough to enlist to fight the Germans. After barely surviving the Blitz, Charlie knows there’s no telling when a falling bomb might end his life.

Fifteen-year-old Molly Wakefield has just returned to a nearly unrecognizable London. One of millions of people to have been evacuated to the countryside via “Operation Pied Piper,” Molly has been away from her parents—from her home—for nearly five years. Her return, however, is not the homecoming she’d hoped for as she’s confronted by a devastating reality: both her parents are gone.

Without guardians and stability, Charlie and Molly find an unexpected ally and protector in Ignatius Oliver, and solace at his book shop, The Book Keep, where A book a day keeps the bombs away. Mourning the recent loss of his wife, Ignatius forms a kinship with both children, and in each other—over the course of the greatest armed conflict the world had ever seen—they rediscover the spirit of family each has lost.

But Charlie’s escapades in the city have not gone unnoticed, and someone’s been following Molly since she returned to London. And Ignatius is still reeling from a secret Imogen long kept from him while she was alive—something so shocking it resulted in her death, and his life being turned upside down.

As bombs continue to bear down on the city, Charlie, Molly, and Ignatius learn that while the perils of war rage on, their coming together and trusting one another may be the only way for them to survive.

All Our Beautiful Goodbyes by Julianne MacLean

 

My thoughts

I've read and honestly loved several of this author's books. Each is unique and held me captive throughout. This one is no different. This is a beautiful story filled with so many emotions. Love, betrayal, loss, new life, goodbyes, beginnings. Love lost and possibly found. So much emotion in this story set on and around Sable Island.

Emma was born and raised on Sable Island. She lost her mother when she was born. Her father raised her by himself and did a great job. He taught her so much and she's very smart. She wants nothing more than to go to college but her dad is not so keen on the idea. He doesn't want to let go. 

When Emma meets Oliver after his ship wrecks off the coast of Sable Island, she falls head over heels in love. But he has to leave and she's left humiliated and heartbroken. Why would he ever do that to her. Push her away. Act as though they never shared anything special. But that is exactly what he did. After all he was a married man. His wife was living a complete separate life with another man so it couldn't have been her. Could it?? 

Then Emma meets and falls for Logan. He came to Sable Island as a veterinarian to care for the horses. They fell in love and got married. Not long after she gave birth to a baby boy. Then things went so wrong for the couple. Logan had secrets he never divulged to his wife. They were in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Logan was arrested. Emma was devastated and returned to Sable Island. 

Her life was so complicated and then Oliver returned professing his undying love for her. They spent the day together and when he had to leave he promised to return at Christmas and they would announce their engagement. That was not to be... 

Emma went through so much because of these two men. She had to move on with her life. She had found herself pregnant again and went back to Halifax to her friend Ruth's. She gave birth to a baby girl, Rose, and already had a son, Matthew. She was destine to be alone it seems. She would not return to Sable Island but instead went on to school. She made a life. Then years later a car pulls up to her home....

This book is told beautifully. Yes it made me cry. A lot. Especially close to the end. This author takes you deep into the lives of Emma and her father. The horses on Sable Island. The loves Emma had and lost. It's one I highly recommend.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC. 

About

From USA Today bestselling author Julianne MacLean comes an epic tale of unrequited love that is by turns breathtaking, heartbreaking—and utterly unforgettable.

1946: World War II is over, and Emma Clarkson is poised to take flight. With dreams of attending university, she’s ready to leave behind the wild beauty of Sable Island, the only home she’s ever known. But when a handsome British sea captain is rescued from a nearby shipwreck, her destiny is forever changed.

Emma falls deeply in love with Oliver Harris, but their romance is not meant to be. Oliver returns to the sea, while Emma vows to forget him and pursue her own ambitions. When a handsome veterinarian arrives on the island to study the wild horses, Emma finds love again, but soon discovers that all is not as it seems…

1995: Mourning the death of her beloved grandmother, Joanna Griffin is shocked to learn that her grandfather once loved a young woman named Emma, but lies, betrayals, and catastrophic events separated them forever. As Joanna crosses an ocean to solve the secrets of her grandfather’s past, she learns that love is a powerful force, even mightier than the passage of time…

A shining thread of hope illuminates this epic tale of lost love and fallen dreams, set in the remote splendor of Nova Scotia and spanning decades.

Karma Never Sleeps by John Dingle

 

About

In a small town, the truth can’t always set you free…

When a second woman from a group of friends known as “the posse” is murdered in the woods near the New England enclave of Kendalton, FBI agent and profiler Gus Wheeler and his partner are called in to determine if this is a serial killing. He’s intrigued by a clue hidden on the a memorial picture of a teen who died 25 years ago.

Instead of helping with the investigation, the long-term friends stonewall the agents. But Gus can smell fear beneath their calm masks, fake smiles, and politely vague answers. Digging deeper, he discovers they are being terrorized by cyberstalking, spying, threats and mysterious break-ins. When a third member is hospitalized after a brutal attack, Gus suspects someone in the posse is the hunter instead of the hunted.

Is it the alpha leader Jules, her best friend Maria—married to the chief of police—outsider Mel, or weak link Lizzy? Or someone else bent on revenge? Time’s running out, and Gus’s life depends on his skill at determining who’s the best liar in town.

Chapter One

Everyone knew Sarah Nelson loved to run. She was a triage nurse, so her days were filled with alarms and buzzers and life-or-death decisions. Running gave her much-needed quiet time, a chance to decompress and get lost in her own head without any distractions from work or kids or social media. She loved the alone time on the trails, just her and her music and the fresh smells of nature. And the endorphins; oh, how she loved the endorphins. Sarah would rave to the girls, the Posse as they called themselves, that as good as sex was with Steve (and it was pretty amazing), when she hit the zone on a run and the world melted away, the endorphins she’d get afterward were simply orgasmic. But, of course, all this was a lie, especially the Steve-sex thing. Sarah hated running, she absolutely loathed it. But deep down she loathed her vile friend, Jules, even more. Jules was a liar and a drunk and a constant thorn in Sarah’s side. Any day Sarah didn’t see Jules was a good day. But worst of all, Jules was a runner and a big-time one at that. And Sarah would be damned if that bitch did anything better than she did.

The drizzle that had been ongoing throughout her run had turned intrusive, the wind thrusting it inside her collar and up her pant legs. All around her, tree trunks were stained a sinister black from the dampness. She fought her way up the steep incline and over the crest of the hill and relief washed over her. This was the three-mile mark and that hill was the hardest part of her run. She knew she’d be at the exit to her backyard just around the next bend. But, as she turned the corner, the first thing Sarah saw was someone lying in a fetal position across the trail, their back arched her way. She stopped short and, peeling wet hair from her face, thought a moment.

She pressed pause on the phone strapped to her bicep and the music in her wireless earbuds was gone. The person wore baggy exercise pants and a form-fitting cold weather running top with its hood pulled tightly over their head. Long arms and legs uncoiled and Sarah heard a low, pain-filled moaning.

Just what I need on my day off, Sarah thought. Another patient.

She kissed the endorphins goodbye and stepped closer. “Oh, hey. You okay?”

The runner twisted their torso and pressed their face into the dirt. “Ah, it’s my knee. My leg bent the wrong way around that corner and I heard a pop. I can’t seem to put any weight on it.”

Sarah knelt down. “Here, let me take a look.”

“Ah, ah AH.”

“Sorry,” she said, sliding the pant leg up. The runner’s leg was a solid, condensed muscle. “The good news is I don’t see any swelling, so it’s probably just a mild strain.” Sarah looked to the opening to her yard a few feet away. “Let’s get you up and bandaged to keep it from swelling.”

“I’m such an idiot,” the runner moaned into the dirt.

“Ah, don’t worry about it. Accidents ha…” Sarah’s words were interrupted by a sharp prick to the back of her neck, and before she knew what was happening her throat and shoulders began to go numb. She swatted at it as if it were a bee sting and, as she did so, scrambled to her feet but not before her cell phone was tugged free from the strap on her arm.

“Wait…what…what the…?” Sarah muttered, confused, stumbling away. She looked at her assailant, who was holding up a scalpel and smiling wide, all traces of anguish and pain gone. Sarah tried to say something but slurred her words so severely even she couldn’t understand what was said. Her mind was racing and she began to have trouble breathing as the numbness made its way to her chest. Her legs wobbled and fear gripped her insides.

She turned to run but a hand grabbed her from behind and she felt searing pain erupt across her lower neck and shoulder. She pulled free and saw a thin red line blooming through her shirt as she began to shuffle-run toward the entrance of her yard. Gusts of wind spread tears across her cheeks like scattering bugs and her legs felt heavy, sluggish, as if she were running on a beach. She tried to focus on the opening in the trees to her yard but her eyes served it up in pairs.

Sarah staggered from the woods and nausea gripped her so severely she vomited down the front of her shirt. She heard a distant voice calling her name before she dropped to one knee. The world spun violently and she collapsed onto her shoulder, then her side, coming to rest atop her flowerless rosebushes. Hot pain consumed her body, her screams of agony trapped in the bile collecting in her throat.

Someone gripped her arm and the back of her neck and it felt like her flesh was on fire. She felt herself lift off the thorny branches as a mix of words and sounds swam to her confused brain. She struggled to peel her eyes open and, when she finally did, terror gripped her once again.

Then the world snapped black.

About the author

R. John Dingle is the author of mysteries and psychological thrillers set in New England. He and his wife currently call a small island in Mid-Coast Maine ‘home’, both living, writing and boating from their restored 200-year old house. The psychological thriller, Karma Never Sleeps, is John’s first novel.

One Good Thing by Georgia Hunter

 

My thoughts

This is a heartfelt and heartbreaking story of the holocaust. Set in Italy and told through a young woman named Lili’s pov. She was so strong and resilient. Even when she thought she was weak she pressed on. Taking care of her best friend’s small son. She also found love and after the war made a life with Thomas in the USA.

This book made me laugh a few times. It also made me cringe and oh my but did I cry. It was not a good time in history for the Jews. They were persecuted so bad. Considered to be less then human. 

In this story you meet Lili and Esti. Two best friends who's lives were forever changed by the war. By a Nazi. By Hitler and Mussolini. Two friends who went through some horrific times. When Esti is hurt she talks Lili into taking her young son and fleeing. Finding a safer place. While Lili doesn't want to leave Esti she finally concedes and starts on a long and dangerous journey. She goes through a lot of places and finds kind people along the way willing to help. She also finds some mean and evil people who wish harm on Jews. 

Lili comes full circle eventually and finds her way home. Along the way her and Theo, Esti's young son, meet a lot of people. One being Thomas. He needs a place to hide and Lili helps him. They end up falling in love and Theo loves Thomas also. 

It's sad what happened back then. No one should have to live in that kind of fear. In that kind of hate. Yet it seems we are almost doing it again right here in my country. It's scary that people seem to have learned nothing from the past....

Thank you #NetGalley, #PenguinGroup, #VikingPenguin, #PamelaDormanBooks, for this ARC.  

About

From the New York Times–bestselling author of We Were the Lucky Ones, an unforgettable story of hardship and hope, courage and resilience, that follows one young woman’s journey through war-torn Italy

1941, Emilia Romagna. Lili and Esti have been best friends since meeting at the University of Ferrara; when Esti’s son Theo is born, they become as close as sisters. There is a war being fought across borders, and in Italy, Mussolini’s Racial Laws have deemed Lili and Esti descendants of an ‘inferior’ Jewish race, but life somehow goes on—until Germany invades northern Italy, and the friends find themselves in occupied territory.

Esti, older and fiercely self-assured, convinces Lili to flee first to a villa in the countryside to help hide a group of young war orphans, then to a convent in Florence, where they pose as nuns and forge false identification papers for the Underground. When disaster strikes at the convent, a critically wounded Esti asks Lili to take a much bigger step: To go on the run with Theo. Protect him while Esti can’t.

Terrified to travel on her own, Lili sets out on an epic journey south toward Allied territory, through Nazi-occupied villages and bombed-out cities, doing everything she can to keep Theo safe.

A remarkable tale of friendship, motherhood, and survival, One Good Thing is a tender reminder that love for another person, even amidst darkness and uncertainty, can be reason to keep going.