And After the Fire by Lauren Belfer FIC Bel

In Berlin in 1783, Sara Itzig is the beloved student of Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, son of the great Johann Sebastian Bach.  In failing health and lacking funds, Wilhelm has been selling his father's compositions to get by.  As a wedding present to Sara, he gives her a composition that he wrote and one of his father's.  The contents of this cantata are so horrific to Sara that she hides it away so that no one can see it.

In modern day Buffalo, NY, Susanna Kessler discovers an unpublished cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach in her uncle's piano. Wondering if it really is what she thinks it is, Susanna begins the process of authenticating the discovery.  Among the many questions she has is how this piece of music came to be in her uncle's possession.  And why had he kept it hidden for so long?

The process leads her on a personal path of discovery as she tries to recover from the rape that ended her marriage.  In the course of her journey she meets Daniel Erhardt and Scott Schiffmann, both experts in Bach's music.  Through them she enters a world previously unknown to her and begins to find her way back to the person she wants to be.

I enjoyed the back story of Sara Itzig Levy and her connections to Felix Mendelssohn.  The author's descriptions of Bach's music as well as Mendelssohn's were incredibly rich and made me want to listen to the pieces she mentioned.  (So far I haven't.)  In addition, there were real struggles with the still lingering after effects of World War II and the Holocaust.  If some of the situations seemed a little too coincidental, I found it didn't matter because I cared about the characters and was fascinated by the history and descriptions.

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Raising Ryland by Hillary Whittington with Kristine Gasbarre 362.785 Whi

I didn't get anything done today - except to read this book.  After I finished it I went online to watch the video that was made by the Whittingtons and then I headed to Amazon to read some reviews.  There were 84% of the reviews that were five-stars. There were 13% four-star reviews - and one person who gave it three stars.  Here is that review:
"Although I didn't agree with the content of the book, it was interesting. I imagine this book is much better received in the West or North than the Deep South. This is definitely for a more liberal-minded mother. I was hoping to be more emphatic about childhood diversity, but this book did not convince me a child is old enough to decide his or her gender at five."

I wondered if that person actually read the book!  When Ryland was about one year old she was diagnosed as being profoundly deaf.  What a blow to the young parents.  How would they get through it?  Fortunately Ryland was a good candidate for cochlear implants and with a lot of hard work develops oral skills.  And she announces she is a boy.  Everyday Hillary tries to dress her there is a battle.  A pivotal point is when Ryland asks, 'mom, when the family dies....can I cut my hair so I can be a boy?"  They cut his hair and their little boy became a much happier kid.  An inspiring and touching story of a couple who decided they would do everything they could to make their child happy.  Ryland is an amazing boy!

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Auschwitz #34207 The Joe Rubinstein Story by Nancy Sprowell Geise 940.5318 Gei

History has a lot to teach us and it's always good to be reminded of things that happened - especially how and why it happened.  This isn't an easy book to read.  It is the story of Joe Rubinstein.  When Geise wrote this book in 2014 Joe was 92 years old.  So that is the spoiler - he survived and lived a long life.  Before he was born his parents lost a son to illness.  They went on to have more children including Joe and his twin brother.  By the end of the war Joe knew that he was the only one left in his family.  What the man went through was endured by millions but it is so much worse when we read about an individual.  There were several times that he shouldn't have survived, but he did.  We learn about the entire life of Joe - his childhood, the war, the post-war and then a brief part that summarizes the second part of his life.  All the Holocaust stories are important.  We can't ever forget that it happened.

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First Dads by Joshua Kendall 973.099 Ken

I loved this book!  It is filled with so many interesting stories.  There are lots of great books about our Presidents but this is one with a twist.  It is about their roles as fathers and as an extension it tells how they were parented.  Kendall has divided his book into kinds of dads.  They are: The Preoccupied, Playful Pals, Double-Dealing Dads, Tiger Dads, The Grief-Stricken and The Nurturers.  It was definitely interesting to find out who was in which section.  I have to say I was shocked about several stories of the Presidents who have served during my lifetime.  Here is one. The children of George and Barbara Bush were left in the care of friends for long stretches in 1948.  In 1959 they were again pawned off for four months.  Here is a quote from Jeb Bush when he was talking about that time.  "At least we weren't put in a kennel"!

A lot of the book is about the First Kids.  There are a lot of sad stories about what happened to them.  A very entertaining book!!

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The Last Time She Saw Him by Jane Haseldine MYS Has

This was a good mystery which was also a quick read.  The story revolves around Julia Gooden.  At the beginning of the book Julia, a reporter who covers the crime beat, spends a lot of her time trying to protect her young boys - from what?  The evil that she knows is out there.  She and her husband are living apart but both of them are still actively parenting the boys.  Their problem is Julia's obsession with 'protecting' her kids.  David had tried to convince her that the boys were fine and that she needed to let them have a more normal life.  Julia's obsession is because of something that happened 30 years ago.  After a day at Funland (bankrolled with the twenty dollars their absentee father had given them), Julia and her older brother return home to a mother who is passed out.  They go to bed but someone comes in and abducts Ben.  The case is still cold.   Julia is afraid that history could repeat itself.  And on the Labor Day weekend of the 30th anniversary Julia receives a phone call that makes her very uneasy.  And then it happens - her youngest son, Will, is taken from their home.  Are the cases connected????  Read it and find out!

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The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell FIC Jew

Clare was married to Chris, a film maker, and they had two daughters - Pip and Grace.  But their lives were shattered when Chris had a schizophrenic break with reality and burned down the family home.  Fortunately Clare and the girls were not in the home but they came home to see their house in flames and their father ranting like a mad man in front.  He is taken to a psychiatric hospital and Clare takes her daughters to live in a new place called Virginia Crescent.  It is almost like a separate world.  The houses all have access to a large park.  Many of the residents have lived here for decades. The kids move through each others' houses and lives.

Pip and Grace take a while to become part of the 'gang' of kids that live there and spend a great amount of time in the park.  There are lots of secrets and dark history in Virginia Crescent.  This is the story of one long, hot summer that ends with one teenager in a coma.  The story is told from the viewpoint of various characters.  The characters are great and the book is filled with turns and twists.

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