We're Back....

Hi For the Love of Dewey Readers!

2020 has been something else, that's for sure.  You would think that we would have been posting more frequently, but NOPE. Even though we were home for 5 months from work we didn't post.  Instead, I spent my free time starting a new exercise program, ending past relationships, praying, and staring at Instagram and Youtube.... a lot.  If living in a global pandemic wasn't enough, today we began hurricane season! 

But it's all okay.  And I'm going to try to post more regularly here and on Instagram.  It's my vow to you.  

Over the past few months I've been reading a lot! One book that I recently finished and adored was Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton.  It was so good! SO, SO GOOD.

I'm not a big fan of historical fiction, but I absolutely devoured this novel , which is told during both present day and during the Cuban Revolution.  Part of why I think I was so drawn to it is because when I was younger I adored Dirty Dancing Havana Nights, which would often play during the summer on the ABC Family Channel.  

This novel opened my eyes to a new point in history and also entertained me with a love story.  It was perfect.

I give you a rating of 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  

Promise to see you soon!

~Jessica 

 

All the Flowers in Paris by Sarah Jio - Resehlved Books

Hello Dewey Readers! 

My next book club pick is Sarah Jio's latest novel All the Flowers in Paris, which I just finished last night.  All I can say is wow.  

The novel follows two parallel story lines set in Paris, one in the present day and one during WWII.

Present Day: Caroline is riding a bike when a truck is coming towards her with no intention of stopping.  She has to make a quick decision to either run into the truck or run

into a mother and young child.  She chooses the truck and wakes up in a hospital with her memory as to who she is completely erased.  As she begins to search for who she is, in the back of her apartment she find letters written by a woman dating back to WWII. 

The Past: Celine's husband passed away before she was able to tell him that she was expecting their first child. He was hit by a truck while riding his bike home to her.  As the Nazis begin to occupy Paris, her family is singled out. The yellow star of David is painted on her father's florist shop, and the man she has now fallen in love with has gone away as a resitance officer.  One day he sends a note with a hidden message warning of danger.  Things then begin to unravel as evil creeps in and disrupts their once quiet lives.    

While I've read books that flip between the present day and the past, I haven't read a book where they story lines were so close and parallel, yet distinctly their own.  I think a lot of historical fiction novels seem total place during WWII, and because of this they came become overdone.  However, Jio's take is fresh and exciting, which leads me to give it a For the Love of Dewey rating of 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.

Until the next read!

~Jessica 

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes- Reshelved Book

It's said that honesty is the best policy.  So, if we're being honest, I'm going to say that I was hesitant about reading this book at first.

I had no idea at the time that there is quite the controversy surrounding The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes. I'm not going to into the controversy there, it's not my place.  It's something that you're able to google and find articles on.  In a nutshell, it's been said that there are striking similarities between The Giver of Stars and The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek- paragraphs and characters and events are almost verbatim.  Which, if that's the case, is rather crumby... And I apologize to the author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek if there are great similarities because again, this is a crumby situation to be in. (and had I know this, I would have borrowed the book from the library and I wouldn't have gone out and bought a copy).

The first thing that I noticed about the book was it was very descriptive.  It was very easy to put Moyes' words into pictures.

Aside from noticing that the prologue was focused on Margery’s experience with Clem McCculough. I only mention this because a lot of the book focused on Alice Van Cleve’s character. Yes, Margery was a large character but I wouldn’t go on to say that she was much as a main character as Alice. The other women: Beth, Izzy, Sophia and Mrs. Brady, seemed to be all minor. (But I will say about half way through the book, the prologue makes sense)

Needless to say, I was hooked. I couldn’t put the book down for much. I found myself wishing I could past certain sections faster because I desperately wanted to know what was going to happen. Any book that makes the reader want to keep the page turning, is a good book to me.  (I was terrified for Margery. She became the character that I was hoping everything turned out well for).

On thing I didn’t like about this book was the ending! It was so goofy! I didn’t think that the futures of all the characters had to laid out. As much as I liked Sophia as a character, did I need to know how she lived out her life after the library? No. Did I know about Beth? No I didn’t (and this is a small spoiler: Beth’s future with who she ended up marrying, didn’t even make sense!). As I said to MB, it felt like the ending of the book and the body of the book were authored by two different people. That, or it felt like it was thrown together haphazardly. 

Even before that, once the trail ended; you could tell the ending was gonna take a much different approach. Even Fred’s character changes. He went from being a well mannered and minded guy, into someone who ultimately surprised me. Don’t get me wrong, I was rooting for Fred and Alice but the way that their relationship progressed. It could have been a little different? 

I have so much guilt toward this book! I really really enjoyed it. But for it to have been the works of something that was plagiarized?? Gah. 

If you’re interested in reading this book, I would definitely say to get your name on the list for it at your local library. I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy it. Just because of the possibility behind it. (And that’s not far to the author of The Book Woman it Troublesome Creek, if true). 

I give The Giver of Stars 4 coffee beans out of 5. 

- Jillian

Floating in the Neversink: A Novel-In-Stories by Andrea Simon- Reshleved Books

Hi all!

We were asked to be part of the book tour for Andrea Simon's new book Floating the Neversink.  As part of this review, we will be giving away a copy of Floating in the Neversink!  Check out our IG post for more information on that. 

Floating in the Neversink tells the story of Amanda "Mandy" Gerber over the course of 6 years.  The reader is introduced to Amanda at the tender age of 9.  She's leaving Brooklyn with her family, to spend the summer away at her grandmother's summer house in upstate New York. 

Pay no mind to this book being a thinner. It's able to pack a huge punch and boy, it does! This book is told in an interesting way; each chapter is it's own story.  I found this to be a fun take on the telling of a story.  

 The book also flips between Mandy's time spent in Brooklyn and her time spent in the Catskills.

The way that Simon writes allows for you as the reader to feel Mandy's emotions. Which, is something I find not all authors can do.  The book tells the pivotal stories of Mandy's life and which each story, you can get a sense of what she's feeling. 
Not only was Simon able to make you feel such strong emotions, but she was also able to paint intense imagery.  Reading each story made you feel like you were there, next to Mandy as everything unfolded. 

Simon doesn't shy away from much when she's telling Mandy's story either.  As the reader, you get to see the struggles that Mandy faces with her friendships and at home.  (Mandy's character went through some uncomfortable scenarios going up)

I really enjoyed Floating in the Neversink.  If you're looking for a good book to cozy up with, I would definitely recommend this one. 

I give this book 4 coffee beans out of 5.  

~ Jillian

Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelley - Reshelved Books

Hello Dewey Readers!

I am super excited to review Martha Hall Kelley's latest novel Lost Roses.  Kelley's novel Lilac Girls was a wonderful read, so when her latest novel arrived as an ARC from Baker and Taylor I was super excited to take it home and review it on our blog for all of you.  While Lilac Girls follows the story of WWII, Lost Roses follows the story of WWI and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

Now I am not a big history buff or historical fiction fan, but I became interested in the royal Russian family after reading a y.a. novel centered around the Romanovs when I was in graduate school. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why I found this novel so hard to put down.  

Not only does this novel tell the horrors Russian families faced during the war, but it also examines the unbreakable bond of a mother and her child in conjunction to the horrors of abusive domestic relationships.  The novel itself has a plot that makes the reader quickly devour the pages, while there are just enough details to leave the reader stunned and begging for more.  Like Lilac Girls, Lost Roses is a well researched piece of literary art that leaves the reader feeling like they have traveled back into time.  

So Dewey Readers, I leave you with a rating of 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  Look for this novel on April 2, 2019. 

~Jessica      

The Wartime Sisters by Lynda Cohen Loigman - Reshelved Books

Hello Dewey Readers!

Lynda Cohen Loigman just wrote another new book.  If you avidly read our reviews, you know that Jillian and I both LOVED Loigman's novel The Two Family House, so when we heard that she was coming out with another novel we just knew that we had to read it. 


The Wartime Sisters follows the story of two sisters who were both very different.  Ruth, the older sister, was very bookish.  She got straight As, liked doing homework, and always strived for perfection.  The younger sister, Millie, was very different.  Actually, the two sisters sort of reminded me of my sister and I.  I'm the older and bookish one and my sister... well, she isn't.  We're both smart, but she definitely is more lax. I think because of this, the way that Loigman crafted the characters of the two sisters, and even the differences in how their parents treat and expect things from both of them, felt very much real to me.  

So a bit about the plot.  The two sisters grow up to marry different men and end up losing communication with each other after a falling out.  Millie, head over heels in love, marries a man who isn't a very wise financial choice, and Ruth marries a man similar to herself.  Then WWII begins.  Ruth's husband, a scientist, is important within the army, and Millie is now an army widow with a two year old son.  Ruth reaches out to Millie and offers her a place to stay with her and her husband at the army base.  

This novel explores the bonds of sisters, of family, and of love.  It allows the reader to dive into a historical time frame and develop and emotional connection to it through it's characters.  When you read this novel (because you definitely need to read it) you will end up devouring it.  

So Dewey Readers, I leave you with a rating of 5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.

Until the next read!
~Jessica    

The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain - Reshelved Books

Hello Dewey Readers!

I just finished an absolutely amazing book.  It was just the book I needed to distract myself from my life. I could NOT put it down.  What was this magical book, you ask?  Diane Chamberlain's The Stolen Marriage.  


I love Diane Chamberlain.  She blends suspense with women's fiction (and this time historical fiction) in a way that just makes you keep wanting more. 

In this novel we meet Tess, a young woman who is studying to become a nurse and who is engaged to a newly minted young doctor named Vincent.  Tess and Vincent grew up together in Baltimore's section of Little Italy, both as devout Catholics and both with families who love the couple and each other dearly.  It is also1943, the middle of WWII, and  the beginning of a large polio epidemic, which at this point is hitting it's hardest in Chicago.  Vincent, being the good man and enthusiastic new doctor he is, goes to Chicago to volunteer his time.  What he claims to be a few weeks turns into a few months and Tess is well... she's upset and lonely.  So, rather than sit home and sulk, Gina and Tess take a girl's weekend trip to Washington D.C.  Only Tess makes one large and horrifying mistake that changes EVERYTHING.  

Now, while I absolutely adored this book I did have one complaint.  I wanted more.  I felt that the ending was too abrupt, and prior to the epilogue, I was hoping that this novel would continue into a sequel.  WHY DID IT HAVE TO END SO QUICKLY!?!? 

So Dewey Readers, I give you a rating of 4.5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  (But, I gave it 5 on GoodReads.)  

Until the next read!
~Jessica  

The Witchfinder's Sister by Beth Underdown - Reshelved Books

Hello everyone!  

In honor of the spooky pumpkin spice latte season, I bring you a review that's rather witchy, at least in the historical sense.  When we think of historical witches, we often think of Salem, Massachusetts and the Salem Witch Trials that took place in the 1690's.  Beth Underdown's The Witchfinder's Sister takes us to pre-Salem overseas in England in 1645 where like in Salem, women were hunted, tried, and murdered for being a suspected "witch." 

This novel follows the story of Alice Hopkins, who after becoming a recent widow when her husband dies in an accident, is forced to return to her childhood home, which is now owned by her brother Matthew Hopkins.  Alice, after miscarrying and losing many children while her husband was alive, is pregnant once again.  This is both a blessing and a curse.  It is a blessing because it is something that she has yearned for, for so many years and because it is the last physical tie she has to her deceased husband, but it is also a curse because now it will be so much harder for her to remarry.  It appears as though her future lies with being a single mother under the rule of her brother's home.  But then Alice loses this baby as well.    

One night, Matthew comes home late and terribly frightened.  He saw something, but when questioned by Alice he will not speak of it.  Alice herself had felt something... animal and dog-like come inside with Matthew that night but she cannot explain the phenomena and wishes to forget it.  It is after this, that Matthew begins to hunt women, especially those without family, children, or who have had children recently  pass, as well as those who may be suffering from mental distress and tries and kills them for being witches.  According to this Wikipedia article, the real life Matthew Hopkins is believed to have murdered 300 women for suspected witchcraft.  Isn't that crazy?

I always had a fascination with the witch trials, which I why I decided to pick up this book.  That being said, historical fiction isn't always my thing.  While I found this book interesting, I wasn't overly blown away with it, especially towards the end.  So dear Dewey Readers, I leave you with a rating of 3 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  

Until the next read!

~Jessica 

  

The Mermaid Collector by Erika Marks - Reshelved Books

Hello dear For the Love of Dewey Readers!

After finishing  Julia's Daughters by Colleen Faulkner I thought I was going to have a terrible book hangover and have trouble getting into a new book.  It was snowing outside, so I wanted something beachy to take my mind off of the snow -- but not summery.   I had just packed up a bunch of books in preparation for my big move coming up this spring (including most of my to-read pile) and found this one that I have been meaning to read for probably 3 years now.  I'm terrible, I know.

These are all books...except for that red box...

At first I thought that Erika Marks' The Mermaid Collector was going to be too much fantasy based.  I guess I wasn't sure what exactly to expect and I was a little bit apprehensive.  But nonetheless, I started reading it and had trouble putting it down.  

The lighthouse on the cover looks just like the Portland Lighthouse
 I was lucky enough to visit this past fall.

This novel is as much of a love story as it is a historical fiction and ghost story about the origin of local myth and legend.  It follows the present day stories of Tess Patterson and Tom Grace, two people who have given up on love, lost parents to tragic deaths, and are struggling to heal themselves and learn to trust others.  Tess Patterson has grown up in Maine, living near the water with both her mother and step-father, until her mother commits suicide by drowning in the cove.  Tom Grace, comes to costal Maine when he inherits the light keeper's house after his family falls victim to a tragic hit-and-run accident.  An accident that takes the life of his parents.  What makes this book stand out from other novels that deal with love, tragedy, heartbreak, and family issues is seen from the historical flashbacks that tie the custom of the annual Mermaid Festival of the present to the novel's mermaid lore of the past.     

This novel offers reader's glimpses of  the couple that perviously lived in the Light Keeper's house back in the 1800's by telling the mermaid legend in segments that leave the reader wanting more.  Showing how  love, loss, tragedy and the past can have haunting and lasting impressions on the future.  Do ghosts exist in the physical sense?  Or a ghosts the rippling effects the past has on the present? 

So my dear For the Love of Dewey readers, I give you ANOTHER rating of 5 out of 5 coffee beans! 

I could not put this book down, and I was so sad when it was over.  I have such a terrible book hangover that now I don't even know what I want to read!

Does anyone have any suggestions? 

~Jessica     

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly - Reshelved Books

Hello fellow readers!

I have been meaning to write this review for a while now.  Actually, I have tried to sit down and write this review 3 times but haven't really gotten anywhere.  This is my last semester in my MLIS program *yay!*  And this is also the first semester where I have had 3 projects due in Week 4 *ugh.*  It's week 2 right now.  I guess you can say life has me a bit overwhelmed. 

I recently finished reading Martha Hall Kelly's Lilac Girls, a novel that tackles the subject of WWII and the Nazi occupation of Poland.  What I liked about this novel is that it shows the horrific experience of concentration camps from a female prisoner of war perspective, rather than focusing specifically on religious persecution.  This novel follows the story of three women: Caroline, who lives in America, Kasia, a young Polish girl and devote Catholic, and Herta, an aspiring doctor.  Kelly takes these three characters, who come from different circumstances, have different dreams, and live different lives, and links them together through Hitler.  The one character that really stood out to me was Herta.  When Herta becomes a doctor, she ends up working for Hitler's concentration camps, specifically the camps for female political prisoners.  It is here that Herta meets Kasia and ends up operating on her for experimental purposes.  These experimental surgeries eventually lead to her trial for Crimes Against Humanity.  What really stood out to me was that Herta does feel guilt, but tries to justify her guilt to the people around her and to herself by saying that the women she preformed the experimental surgeries on were political prisoners sentenced to death anyway.  This theme of guilt also finds its way to Kasia, where she blames herself for her mother's death for being near her during her arrest.

This book is just as fascinating as it is gripping and horrific.  It's almost unbelievable that these terrible things happened on such a grand scale during pretty much recent history.  However, I guess terrible things happen today too.

4 out of 5 coffee beans for this novel!

If you have read this novel, please comment below with what you thought!  If you haven't, comment with what you're reading now! I need book suggestions for when Week 4 ends!         

 

~Jessica 

Currently Reading: Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

Hello everyone!  

It's that busy time of the year again...The start of a new semester!   I am going to apologize in advance if my posts aren't as frequent as the usually are.  This is also my last semester, which is just as exciting as it is scary!  Come May I'll have my MLIS and be on my way to becoming a librarian.  

I am continuing with my WWII historical fiction theme set up earlier this month by my review of All the Light We Cannot See, by reading Martha Hall Kelly's Lilac Girls.  This novel also deals with WWII, but more specifically with Nazi occupation in both France and Poland.  What I like about this novel is that while the main chunk of events take place in Europe, America is also discussed through the voice of the character of Caroline who lives in the New York / Connecticut area.  Unlike All the Light We Cannot See, this novel seems to delve deeper into the gruesome details and horror of the Nazi Concentration Camps. 

My library co-workers have all read this book and gave it high ratings, so I can't wait to get back to reading it and tell you what I think!

~Jessica   

All The Light We Cannot See By Anthony Doerr - Reshelved Books

     All The Light We Cannot See is a historical fiction novel that takes place during WWII. This one has been on my To-Read Shelf for quite and while, and because two of our followers loved this book, I decided to start my 2017 reading off with it!
     This is the first novel that I have read by Doerr, and while I am unable to compare it to his other work, the literary style he uses in this novel captured my attention and stood out to me as being rather unique.  This is because Doerr uses short chapters that gives the reader a snapshot of a specific part of the story, but does so in a way that is fluid -- not scattered or choppy.  While working with these prosaic snapshots, Doerr is able to successfully tell the stories of two characters, Werner, a boy who is in training to be a member of the Nazi youth, and Marie-Laure, an intelligent blind girl who does not let her disability get in the way of her independence or sense of adventure.
    This novel is different from the other WWII novels, such as Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale and Martha Hall Kelly's Lilac Girls because while there is suffering, there isn't much written about Jewish suffering or groups targeted by the Nazi's.  There is government occupation, fear, and the upheaval of lives, yes, but the detailed suffering of specific groups sort of fades into the mass scenery of the text.  There is also an underlying storyline centered around the myth associated a diamond stored at the museum Marie-Laure's father works at, and that is ultimately placed into Marie-Laure's possession.  In this myth, there was a diamond called the "Sea of Flames."  This diamond is the size of a pigeon egg and is blue with a red center.  In the myth, the person who possessed the diamond was said to live forever, but the family and loved ones of the possessor were said to suffer great misfortune.  This captured my attention because 1) I didn't expect it in a WWII book 2) I never heard of it before and 3) I'm not sure what happened to the diamond in the end. The diamond might symbolize how a story lives on and can grow.  It can also symbolize the idea of myth and legend, of fear intertwined with greed, and how while time may progress, people pass away, and new lives are created, these stories continue.  While the details of these stories may falter and smudge, life always carries on.

     While I enjoyed this book and read it much faster than I originally thought I would, I am only going to give it a rating of 3 out of 5 coffee beans because I felt that the ending was a bit too "neat" and happy.  At the end of the novel, almost everything was wrapped up (except for the Sea of Flames!), which I guess can show how even after these terrible historical events, life moves on and new generations, while they may hear the details of these times, will never feel the memories of those who actually lived through them.       

So, for those of you who read this novel, what did you think of the ending?  AND What do you think happened to the Sea of Flames?      

P.S. Here is an interesting article I found while researching the Sea of Flames...I can't believe I didn't realize Werner was albino. 

~Jessica