The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir FIC WEI

        Essie is 17 and the youngest in her family.  Her family is not a normal family. No, they are the Hicks family known for their wildly popular reality show Six for Hicks.  Her father is an evangelical preacher which makes being a perfect family mandatory.  Essie doesn't know any other way of life but that doesn't mean she likes it.  

     Essie's mother, Celia (perfect wife and mother), discovers that her youngest is pregnant!  This will not do.  What is a mother to do??  Of course she turns immediately to the producers of the show.  After all, they need to figure out a way to spin this story in order to save the show.  Ideas are thrown around.  Maybe a secret abortion?  Perhaps they could cover up Essie's pregnancy and Celia could pretend to be pregnant. Oh wait - the best idea ever.  Arrange a marriage (quickly of course) and of course the wedding would be broadcasted which would lead to ratings gold.  

       Naturally they picked option 3.  It is a bit tricky though because Essie doesn't have a boyfriend.  So they have to find someone willing to quickly 'fall in love' and marry Essie.  Fortunately the show has a big budget so it's just a matter of finding someone in need of money.  

In Another Time by Jillian Cantor FIC CAN

Another novel set in Europe during WWII.  I just can't seem to get enough of them!   The book also jumps to the 1940's and 1950's.  It begins with a brief introduction to Hanna. In 1958 she is playing her violin in an orchestra in NYC.  She makes reference to the time in Germany she stumbled into a church in very bad shape.  But the worse part of her condition is that she has lost ten years of her life.  She was told that no doubt it was caused by a great trauma.
      And then the story returns to the Germany of 1931.  Although her family is Jewish and they are beginning to see and more signs of hatred towards Jews they can't imagine anything bad happening to them in their own country.   It is also the time that she meets Max.  He is the owner of a bookshop that was left to him by his father.  The economy is bad - especially for someone selling books.  To better his future prospects he decides to take some classes at the University.  It is there that he enters  a building by mistake and hears the most beautiful violin music.  After following the sound he sees Hanna practicing on a stage.  And thus begins a love story. But remember -- "true love never runs smooth". That is especially true during the rise of Hitler and the war.    I really enjoyed this book!

Watching You by Lisa Jewell FIC Jew

         In Bristol, England there is a neighborhood called Melville Heights.  It is a very nice neighborhood filled with colorful, historic houses.  Among the inhabitants is the Fitzwilliam family.  Tom, the headmaster of the school, his wife Nicola, and their son Freddie.  Freddie attends a private school instead of his father's school.  He is socially awkward.  He spends most of his spare time spying on the neighborhood and writing it all down.
     Joey is a young woman who has had some big life changes.  Her mother died recently but Joey keeps her up to date through long one-sided conversations at the grave. Her big news is that she is now married to a guy named Alfie.  They really don't have any money so they are not the kind of people who live in this area.  Joey's brother, however, has recently moved into one of the houses with his wife Rebecca.  They have graciously invited the newlyweds to move in.
                                   Jenna also lives in the neighborhood.  She is a student at Tom's school.  Her young life as not been very carefree.  After a divorce her father took her brothers and moved about twenty miles away.  Jenna stays with her mother whose grasp of reality is not always the best.  She is paranoid and communicates online with groups of people who have their own paranoia.
          It is an interesting community and like any group of people there are secrets.
          Did I mention that the book begins with a crime scene?  In a kitchen there is dead body. Blood is everywhere due to the twenty knife wounds.  A vicious, personal murder.  
     It's a good book!!!

Goodbye, Sweet Girl by Kelly Sundberg 362.8292 SUN

      I picked up this book along with some others about a month ago.  The others had holds on them and this one fell to the bottom of the pile.  I renewed it but I still hadn't started it.  Two days ago I finally started reading it and finished it the same day.  So obviously I liked it!
       The sub-title is A Story of Domestic Violence and Survival.  That should give you a good idea that it isn't a fluffy, feel-good book.  It is a compelling book that will make you understand a few hard truths.  The experiences of childhood has a big impact on the adult that one becomes.  You can really understand how the violence begins and why women don't run away at the first signs of trouble.  It is a reminder that violence is perpetrated by people from all walks of life - college teachers are not exempt.
      This story might alert people to be more aware of friends, family or colleagues who may be in a dangerous situation.  If you find out that someone you know left a domestic violent situation I think you will understand better why she didn't 'just leave'.

The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff FIC Jen

    I've had read other books by Jenoff and I was sure I was going to love this one too.  And I did!   It is historical fiction which is set immediately after World War II and begins in Grand Central Station.  Grace Healey is on her way to work where she discovers a suitcase (when she trips on it!).  Thinking she might find a clue to the owner, she opens it up and sees photos of women but no identification  other than the word Trigg .  Needing to get to work she impulsively takes the photos and leaves the suitcase.
       Later she finds out that it belonged to a woman named Eleanor Trigg who helped train a group of ordinary women to be secret agents in Europe.  Their job was to act as couriers and radio operators in order to help the Resistance.  The women in the photos Grace found belong to 12 women who risked their lives to help win the war and they never came home.  Grace is determined to find out what happened to them.

Charlotte Walsh Likes To Win by Jo Piazza FIC Pia

       This is a work of fiction -let me suggest that it is historical fiction.  Charlotte has decided to run for the Senate.  It is a midterm election.  The competition will be tough.  Two years before the country was 'shocked' by the election of a president who has divided the country.  
           Charlotte grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania and it wasn't a charmed childhood.  However, she grew up to become very successful -a business in Silicon Valley, a husband and three daughters.  She is inspired to try to help change the direction of the country but she knows her best chance is to move back to Pennsylvania.
     As the campaign gets underway the politics becomes - spoiler alert!- dirty!  Charlotte's husband becomes less and less involved as he struggles to just being a spouse in the background.  When Charlotte learns that her opponent has uncovered a secret about her past, she has to decide if it is all worth it.
      A good look at campaigning from a woman's point of view.

The Wartime Sisters by Lynda Cohen Loigman FIC LOI

     I loved this book.  An historical novel, it begins in Brooklyn shortly after the end of WWI and ends in Springfield Massachusetts during WWII.   The sisters of the title are Ruth and Millie.  Millie was born when Ruth was 3 years old.  Ruth had big plans for her role as big sister.  None of those plans worked out because they were as different as could be.  Besides having no interests in common they were the complete opposites when it came to looks.  Millie was a "beauty " according to their mom and the rest of the world. From the time she was young her mom would tell her that she was going to marry 'well' Their relationship became more contentious as the teen years arrived and Ruth realized she could never find a man with Millie around.  But it turns out there is a guy for her - Arthur who is a book-loving scientist.  They marry and move to Springfield where Arthur will be working at the Armory to help with the war effort.
        The sisters don't see each other for years until, with no other option, Millie and her young son arrive in Springfield.  The wounds of the sisters are so deep it seems that they can never be healed.
       I liked the characters and enjoyed reading about the women who worked jobs to help us win the war.