The Lost Carousel of Provence by Juliet Blackwell

The story of a carousel located on the grounds of a chateaux in Provence is told in the interconnecting stories of three people:

Maelle - a young woman who wants nothing more than to carve - small figures, door mantels, carousel animals - but finds that in France in 1900 such positions are not considered acceptable for young women.  And then there is the distraction caused by the handsome master of the studio she has found work in.

Fabrice - now a recluse in the family chateaux but in his younger years, a fighter in the Resistance during WWII.

Cady - orphaned as a child, she bounced between foster homes and institutions and never fitting in until Maxine, an antique dealer, takes her in and offers her a home.  After Maxine dies suddenly, Cady  finds a mystery in the stomach of an old carousel figure that she has treasured for years.  A talented photographer, she turns these two loves into a chance to go to France to photograph old carousels.  And if she is able to learn more about the mystery of her carousel?  Perfect.

 

This was a fun look at something I had never really given any thought to - carousels.  It made me want to find one again!  I enjoyed all three stories and rooted for a happy ending for all of them.

Reading this was a great way to spend a cold winter afternoon.

The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden (FIC Ard)

This book starts right after the second book in the trilogy, The Girl in the Tower.  Moscow has been struck by disaster - fire, fighting, and the fear of things unseen.  Bearing the blame is Vasilisa Petrovana - Vasya.

Vasya finds herself caught between two worlds - the magical world of magical creatures and the world of growing faith and skepticism of all things magical.  As Moscow and her family and loved ones move toward a fatal fight with the Tatars, she struggles to find a way to combine her love of both worlds.  In the process she finds herself caught between two mystical brothers - the chaos king and the winter king.  Will she succeed in her quest and be able to save both her family and her country
?  Who will win her heart?

Vasya is strong and determined, anxious to help erase the wrongs she blames herself for.  She wonders if she can really unite both of the worlds that claim her.

Filled with mysticism and realism, this was a wonderful series; one that I will read again from beginning to end.  And enjoy it just as much the second time around.

The Light Over London by Julia Kelly (FIC Kel)

Cara is rebuilding her life after a bitter divorce.  She lives in the town she grew up in, visits her grandmother regularly and has a job working with a gruff antiques dealer.  While helping clear a house for an estate, she stumbles on a box filled with the diary of a young woman from WWII.  She is intrigued by what she reads and feels an obligation to try to return it to the woman's family, if possible.  Helping her with her quest is her new neighbor, Liam, a history professor at the local university.

Cara's story is interspersed with the story of Louise, whose diary Cara has found.  Louise has fallen in love with a dashing RAF pilot and is also desperate to get away from her controlling mother.  She escapes to volunteer in the British Army where she works in the anti-aircraft gun unit as a gunner girl.  Thinking of Paul gets her through the long evenings.  But is he the man she thinks he is?

This was an interesting look at a little known (to me) part of World War II.  I enjoyed the stories of both young women and hoped for a happy resolution to both stories.  A quick, fun read.

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen FIC Hen

        Jessica Farris lives in a tiny NewYork apartment with her rescue dog, Leo.  Presently she works for a company called BeautyBuzz.  She travels to homes of clients to transform them through the magic of makeup.  One evening she is doing her magic on two affluent young women who are discussing a clinical study on ethics and morality.  Jessica doesn't care about the study - only that participants are well compensated.  Through some means that are neither moral or ethical, Jessica takes the woman's place and becomes Subject 52.
       Jessica is put in an empty classroom with a computer on which she is to answer questions.  Could you tell a lie without feeling guilty?  Have you ever deeply hurt someone you care about?  Should a punishment always fit the crime?
       The money is unbelievably  good but Jessica finds herself feeling very uncomfortable with things she is asked to do after the Professor of this study begins to manipulate her
    I thought it was a great book!

The Lido by Libby Page (FIC Pag)

According to the Wikipedia, a lido is  a British term for an outdoor public swimming pool and surrounding facilities.

In this book, the lido is a neighborhood staple on the verge of being sold - according to town officials in Brixton, England, it is losing revenue and a local housing company (think expensive high-rise apartments) is interested in buying the property.  And turning it into tennis courts for the exclusive use of their tenants.

At 86, the lido has been a fixture in Rosemary's life since she was a child.  Swimming in it got her through the war, her husband proposed to her there, her apartment overlooks it, she swims there daily.

Kate is in her 20s and a reporter on the local Brixton paper.  She is also consumer by self doubt and given to panic attacks.  She even has a name for her constant companion - The Panic.

And then one day she is sent by her editor to interview Rosemary about the threatened closure of the lido.  And across generations, the two women become friends who are determined to do everything they can to save the lido.

I enjoyed this book a lot.  I liked watching the friendship between the two women grow, I liked seeing how Kate changed, and I enjoyed meeting and liking all the neighborhood "characters" who also want the lido to remain.  Both fun and touching.

Becoming by Michelle Obama 973.932 OBA

I don't think I need to introduce this book to anyone since it made major news when it came out.   I have always loved and admired this former First Lady.
     If you like to listen to audiobooks I would highly suggest you listen to the book.  It is read by Michelle and she did a fantastic job.  The way it is written and read made me feel as if the two of us were chatting over a cup of tea.  I always appreciate a memoir read by the author because you can feel all the emotion.
     After eight years in the public spotlight, I knew a lot about her life - well, at least that is what I thought before this book.
It was wonderful!

Almost Everything Notes on Hope by Anne Lamott 170.44 LAM

      As the darkness of winter is at its peak and I look forward to a new year - a start over.  For depression to lift you may need medication, or a dog, or a new job you like, etc.  But most of all you need hope!
     This is not a how-to book.  Rather it is more a collection of her musings about life.  She talks about her own life or about those of others.  I frequently would stop during the book to reread a sentence or to think about it.  One such sentence was :
   " Your inside person does not have an age.  It is all the ages you have ever been and the age you are this very moment.  As soon as you get used to being some extremely advanced age that you used to think of as ancient and hoary, you will get even older, God willing. "
     I can really relate and take a moment to think about that.
     And then she continues:
     "You will rarely feel as old as you are, except when you have just returned from traveling overseas or are in line at the DMV"
      And suddenly I am laughing out loud.  

I See Life Through Rosé-Colored Glasses by Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella 813.6 SC

       When I began reading this 'series' of books, there were three voices being heard - grandmother, mother and daughter.  Sadly it is now just mom Lisa and daughter Francesca so we just have two generations .
        In this particular time in history I am always looking for some escape and humor.  This book provided everything I wanted.  Both women are witty and have their own particular view of things.  There are about 60 entries in this book so no way can I give you the theme of the book!  We all have random thoughts, opinions, or questions about deep subjects or the least deep subjects.  Few of us think about them for long, much less write about them.  Facetiming between a mother and daughter may not sound like an entertaining story but it made me laugh and I was able to visualize the whole event in my mind.
      An easy and entertaining time-out from life!

Somebody I Used to Know by Wendy Mitchell. 616.8 MIT

     

 This memoir  inspired me, upset me and educated me.  Wendy had a busy life.  She had raised two daughters as a single mother and worked hard which led to the job she held at the British National Health Service.  For fun she liked running and climbing mountains.  At the age of 56 she had an unsettled feeling - things just didn’t run as smoothly and easily as they had.  She didn’t say anything to her daughters and there seemed to be no point in bothering her doctor.  Out for a run she is hoping the adrenalin will push away her mental fuzziness when she takes a bad fall.  Later she will return to that spot trying to figure out what caused her to fall - there is nothing there to explain it.  Days later she does go to see her GP because of her lack of energy.  She does everything right so he blames it on age.  It isn’t age - she is later diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s at the age of 58.
     I could feel her anxiety as she writes about trying to ‘cover up’ at work with several different strategies.  She tries to hide it from her grown daughters.
      This is a chance to hear from someone who is trying to hold on to her independence.  Her new life  doesn’t stop her from being a valuable member of society.  She becomes very involved in speaking out.  Meeting with a group of others with the same disease gives her relief from not having to cover up anything.  They laugh and make jokes about their situations.  Eventually begins to work with doctors and people who are caretakers for those with Alzheimer’s.  A worthwhile read for everyone.
   

A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl by Jean Thompson FIC Tho

   I enjoyed this book - partly because it takes place in a town similar to Indianola -al Midwestern college town!   Similarly to her previous book The Year We Left Home, it is a generationally story of three women.   The first generation of this story is a woman named Evelyn.  As the book opens Evelyn is at the very end of her life.  She lies in a hospital bed waiting to die.  As a young woman she had left town to  be educated.  She returned to her hometown and was able to get a teaching job at the college because of so many men going off to WWII.  Her daughter, Laura, also stays in town when she becomes an adult and becomes a mother to a son (with numerous problems) and her daughter Grace. 

     This is totally a novel that focuses on characters and not a lot of action.  We all know that life and family can be a mixed bag.  We know how the stories of one generation can affect the lives of those that come after.  I think almost everyone will find a part of this story or a character with which they can connect.