The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms (FIC Har)

Amy's husband, John, left her (and her two children) three years ago.  Now he is back and Amy isn't sure how she feels.  When he says he wants to repair his relationship with his children and insists she takes a week off, she signs up to be a presenter at a conference in New York City for librarians.

This might not sound too exciting to the normal person but to Amy the chance to connect with other librarians and sit around and read all day is heaven.  And when she connects with a Hot Male Librarian, it truly is heaven.  But all things must come to an end, right?

Well, not necessarily.  John wants to be with the children all summer and proposes that Amy takes the summer off and leave everything to him.  Amy's college friend, Talia, is the editor of a fashion magazine in NYC and she proposes that the magazine cover Amy's summer off.  And then, there's the Hot Male Librarian...

This book is a fun, breezy story but still has depth to it.  Amy agonizes over her feelings for her not-quite-ex-husband, the time she is spending away from her children, her feelings for said Hot Male Librarian, and how she has spent her life.  And while I enjoyed the subtle references to books, the average reader will (hopefully) come away with a better look at the struggles librarians face and the importance of literacy in our society.

Motherland a memoir of love, loathing, and longing by Elissa Altman (audiobook on Overdrive)

    If the word memoir were not on the front and you just began reading this book, you might not realize it is not a true story but instead a very readable novel.  It was great!
      Elissa has been married to her wife for twenty years and they are happily settled in Connecticut.  There she finds peace.  One big reason for that is she is away from Manhattan where  Rita, her mother, lives.
     Rita was once a singer on a television show.  That is the part of her life with which she still identify.  Clothing, make-up and her singing 'career' are Rita's obsessions.  Having a daughter who is not so interested in make-up or clothing was very hard on Rita.
      Elissa's childhood was rocky.  She is keeping her life stable now with wine and the distance from Rita.  But they are still mother and daughter and Elissa does what is needed for her mom.
      From the description of the book on Amazon -
"...it is an exploration of what it means to escape from the shackles of the past only to have to face then all over again. "

Three Things About Elsie by Joanna Cannon (ebook on Overdrive)

     When the book begins we are introduced to Florence - she is 84, living at a Home for the Elderly, and unfortunately she has fallen and is waiting for someone to miss her and to come looking.  The first two things about Elsie are easy.  She is Florence's best friend since forever.  Whenever Florence is down on herself Elsie will know the right thing to say to make her feel better.  The third thing - well you will have to wait to read the book to find out.
      As Florence lies on the floor she begins to think about Elsie rescuing her when she stops by as she promised.  And then she begins to try and figure out how the new resident looks just like  someone from her past and she is worried.  She is worried because she thinks he might harm her - and also because that man died 60 years ago.
      I loved this book.  The characters are great and the mystery of that man is woven throughout the narrative.

All You Can Ever Know A Memoir by Nicole Chung 921 Chung

  I really like non-fiction books.  I always learn something or get a perspective on people or things that I had never thought about.  I know several people who have adopted children but I have never heard first-hand  stories from adoptees.
      This book is about a baby girl born in the United States to a Korean couple who already had two daughters.  She was born very prematurely  and the Doctors weren't certain she would live. The parents signed papers to give her up for adoption.  The baby spent two months in the hospital and then was adopted by a young couple who were eager to become parents.
      Nicole writes beautifully about her life.  She was a Korean surrounded by children who looked nothing like her.  Her parents were great.  Her life was great.  But there was always this part of her who wonders about her birth parents.  Did they love her? Why did they give her up?
       So she began the quest to find out about her birth parents and the circumstances of her birth.  She finds out - the good, the bad and the ugly.

Syria's Secret Library by Mike Thomson (025.8 Tho)

A reporter for the BBC, the author is familiar with the war in Syria.  In the course of his reporting, he learns of a secret library in the besieged rebel town of Daraya.  Unable to believe what he has heard and also unable to travel to Syria to investigate in person, he manages to establish contact with residents of the city.  Using phones, texts, WhatsApp and almost any means of (often unreliable) communication you can think of, the author slowly tells the story of the secret library of Daraya.

Over the course of months, a group of young men "rescued" books from houses that had been bombed and were now deserted.  At considerable risk to themselves, they moved the books to a basement under a bombed building.  Carefully concealing the entrance, they moved in or built bookshelves and furniture in order to create a space for residents to come.  Because discovery was never very far away, its location (and even the fact that it existed) was kept secret.  In order to use it, you had to know someone.

Why did these young men go to such lengths to create this library?  Because they believed that food for the soul was just as important as food for the body.  Although as the siege went on and food became even more scarce, people became less certain of that.  But even then, this secret library became a source of hope for the future - that the books it contained would help keep citizens informed and educated in a town where schools were almost non-existent.

I was awed at the courage it took, not just to create the library but to live in the conditions they all lived in.  And with Syria still in the news, the book gave me some insight into what life is like in that country and under that dictator.

Moloka'i and Daughter of Moloka'i by Alan Brennert Overdrive

   These two books aren't available in our library (at least at the time I am writing this) but you can download them from Overdrive.   I will just give a general summary of the books.  I had holds on both of the books but the Daughter one came first.  After reading the first book I think it doesn't really matter the order in which you read them!
      They are historical fiction but the author explains at the end how he did his research.  He used real people in his books interspersed with his fictional characters.
     In the first book (which begins over 100 years ago) we meet Rachael  She is a happy seven-year-old who loves her family and life in general in Hawaii.  She is especially close to her father who is often gone since he is a merchant seaman.  But he always comes back with a doll for her.  And then one day a red mark appears on her thigh.  Her mother tries different local remedies but they don't help.  She has leprosy (later known as Hansen's disease).  Taken from her family, she is sent to the quarantined settlement on the Island Moloka'i to live with others who are also afflicted.

The second book is the story of Ruth.  As was the protocol,  Ruth was taken from her mother Rachel shortly after the birth.  Adopted by a loving family, Ruth has a good life but always wonders about her mother - while Rachel grieves for the baby girl she gave up decades before.

You will be drawn in quickly to this fascinating story.

Wunderland by Jennifer Cody Epstein FIC EPS

          WWII is one of my time periods when it comes to books.  So the minute I saw the cover I knew I would love it.  And I did.
    In 1989 Ava Fisher is living  with her teen daughter in NYC.  She was born in Germany.  She never knew her father who was killed.  Her mother, Ilse, had sent Ava to an orphanage during the war for her protection.  Ava waited years for her mother to come back for her.  Their relationship has always been shaky. In fact, Ava told her daughter that Iles died a long time ago.
       And then one day she receives a package from an attorney in Germany.  It contains her mother's ashes and letters addressed to someone Ava had never know.
      That is part of the story.  The other part is the life of Iles.  She was a teen when Hitler was beginning his reign of terror.  But for Iles and her best friend Renate it seems more exciting than scary at the beginning.  But things change for Iles as she sees the awful things that happen to her friends, neighbors and town.
     These two stories were interwoven in a way that kept me engaged from page one to the last past.