All The Light We Cannot See

By Anthony Doerr

Set in World War II France and Germany, All the Light We Cannot See is a long, rich novel populated by a range of imperfect characters, some who try to transcend that imperfection, others who cannot see it.

The cast of characters includes Marie-Laure, blind since age six, with a quick mind and a great deal of self-confidence; her father, locksmith for the Museum of Natural History in Paris; Marie-Laure’s great-uncle, an agoraphobic haunted by ghosts since he returned from World War I; the great-uncle’s elderly housekeeper, who finds the courage to join the French resistance; Werner, a German orphan who is a prodigy in the creation and repair of radios; Werner’s sister Jutta, left behind when Werner is accepted into a science academy for Hitler Youth that offers more political indoctrination than science; and a whole host of others.

Anthony Doerr brings this wide assembly of individuals to life, moving among them, slowly drawing them nearer one another, fleshing each of them out so that even those we might expect to be stereotypes are much more multifaceted.

And among these multifaceted characters lies a multifaceted stone: a diamond with a legendary history. In less able hands, the diamond would have dominated this story, which would have degenerated into a variation on Raiders of the Lost Ark, but it’s the characters who are the heart of All the Light We Cannot See. There are a few we hate, but for the most part, we can’t help but see the better parts of them. The question is whether they will discover these better selves in time to make a difference of some sort in a world quite literally in flames.

Amazon Review

September Book Club

September Book Club at the Library Thursday night!!

 

Stay

Stay by Victor Gischler

Put on leave by the US Army, David Sparrow has become a stay at home dad who is very efficient at getting the kids to school and keeping the house in order. Although the powers that be don't think he has had time enough to heal, David is ready to get back to work and is getting impatient with his bosses in the military that are keeping him on the sideline.

His wife Amy, the newly minted Assistant District Attorney for New York, is completed swamped with her new responsibilities which include building a case against the New York crime lord, Dante Payne. When their home is burglarized and Amy's office is ransacked, David quickly jumps to the task of protecting his family and in the process reveals a skill set that Amy had no idea he possessed.

Soon David realizes that his wife and family are no longer safe and he doesn't know who he can trust. This is a quick paced, action packed book about a man who is willing to risk everything to save his family.

Although it is a little over the top at times. This is still a good, quick read.

Ghost Boy

Ghost Boy:  The Miraculous Escape of a Misdiagnosed Boy Trapped Inside His Own Body 

 by Martin Pistorius

This is a truly amazing story of a boy from South Africa who at the age of twelve, came home from school complaining of a sore throat. He quickly and progressively became more ill and within a year, lost all control of his body and even lost the ability to speak. His parents took him to doctor after doctor and no one could tell them why their boy had become a shell. His parents fed and bathed him while they waited for him to die.

Inexplicably, at around the age of 16, he began to become of aware of his surroundings once more. The devastating reality was that he had no way of communicating with the world and so no one knew that he was waking up. For four long years, he suffered in silence and despair until a perceptive caregiver thought she could see recognition in his eyes.

This is an incredible story of survival and triumph. If it wasn't a true story there is no way you would believe this could happen.

Read Aloud Chapter Books for Young Kids!

Before Midnight

 

Before Midnight by Cameron Dokey

You know the basic story but in this version there are some changes. Cinderella's name is really Cendrillon and her father is alive, but has abandoned her because the death of her mother makes Cendrillon's company too painful. There is another boy whose birthday is the same day as Cendrillon's who grows up with her but has an unknown past. Add to the mix two countries torn by centuries of war, but currently at peace and you have the makings for a great Cinderella retelling.

I loved that Dokey approached this retelling a bit differently, in some ways she stuck truer to the Brothers Grimm version than the Disney version. In some ways, she made everything a bit more sweet too. Most of the story focuses on the power of love and wishes. When Cendrillon wishes for sisters and a mother to love, her wish comes true but not in the way she imagined. Her stepsisters and stepmother aren't as horrible as they are in some renditions, and the ways they are horrible are because their own pain.

There are a lot of twists to the plot, making it more interesting than the traditional Cinderella story. All the characters involved are paired up happily in the end too, which while unlikely and a bit goofy, is also very fairy tale like and sweet.

Overall an excellent retelling of Cinderella. Very sweet and loving characters, a very fairy tale like ending. I loved that the plot was complicated by sympathetic characters and had some additional politics thrown in. The writing is beautiful and descriptive. If you like fairy tale retellings I can recommend this as a good read.

Amazon Review

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Diary of a Waitress

Diary of a Waitress: The Not-So-Glamorous Life of a Harvey Girl by Carolyn Meyer

When Kitty Evans gets the bad news that pursing her life long dream of going to college and studying journalism is no longer an option, she starts looking for ways to escape her hometown and avoid working at the local shoe store "selling shoes to persnickety old ladies with stinky feet!" On a whim, she fills out an application to waitress as a Harvey Girl for the Harvey House Restaurants that have sprung up along the route of the railroads.

A little unsure and wondering what she has gotten herself into, Kitty heads to Kansas to train as a Harvey Girl. Once there, she finds that there are a lot of rules and a lot of hard work.

This was an interesting story about a piece of railroad history that I had not heard of before. The story gets a little repetitive but was still a good read.