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 

Last One Home by Debbie Macomber: Reshelved Books

Happy Sunday reading everyone!  I'm terribly busy with school and work, and slightly overwhelmed.   Nonetheless I give you our For the Love of Dewey book review of Debbie Macomber's latest book Last One Home and a rating of 4 out of 5 coffee beans!

Let me start by saying I absolutely devoured this book, and read it under two days!  (Way before I actually got a chance to post this.) You know how sometimes you need  a book that just makes you feel good?  One that balances out your current life with one that is fictional and leaves you feeling hopeful and happy, but not in an overly sappy way?  Well, this book did just that for me. 

In my Currently Reading post I gave you a bit of a synopsis of the first 50-something pages of this novel.  I also mentioned that while the main character Cassie appeared to have a lot of good things going for her, I feared that by becoming involved in too many good things, she would begin to wear herself thin, in turn causing all of these good things to become a bad thing.  Well, this kind of happened.  Cassie had lost the extra part-time job that she took on and had some emotional set backs regarding new relationships.  However, she did learn the importance of taking a step back, keeping her mind clear, and moving forward, which is perhaps one of the greatest lessons this novel has to teach us.

In this novel, Macomber reminds readers that no matter how bad life gets, or how down you feel, everything works in a cyclical motion.  Just because you're down now, does not mean that you can't get back up again.  But this works both ways.  Cassie's sisters appeared to have perfect lives with perfect husbands.  However, this idea of perfection did not last for long and eventually they too hit low points.  Through this, Macomber reminds the reader that nothing lasts forever, both the good and the bad.  While this can be scary -- that fear of being happy only to have the other shoe drop -- it is also reassuring to remember that life, just like fortune, is fluid. 

~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   

Currently Reading: Last One Home by Debbie Macomber

Hello all!  

     I recently started reading Last One Home by Debbie Macomber.  This book is supposed to be about "new beginnings" and "fresh starts."  And boy oh boy, after the rough last week that I've had, I can sure use a fresh start.

     Right now, I am on page 56 of this book and I am loving it.  Last One Home opens with a scene of three young sisters playing outside on a perfect summer evening.  They're carefree and their outlook on life is the ideal image of childhood innocence.  We're talking warm summer breezes, fireflies, porch lights, games of tag as dusk approaches....Actually, a scene very similar to the cover of this novel (minus the children, of course). 
      Fast forward and the reader meets one of the sisters, Cassie, who is now estranged from the other two.  At one point Cassie ran away from home in the name of "love,"where she got married and had a baby, only to be tragically abused and beaten by her husband.  One day, Cassie gets the strength to say that enough is enough and escapes her abuser with her daughter, files for divorce, and makes a fresh start all on her own.  Things seem to be working in Cassie's favor, as she qualifies for a home through Habitat For Humanity, she is a hairdresser at a salon and has her own set of loyal customers, is picking up an extra side-job, and volunteers by helping other women who are victims of domestic violence.  However, I wonder if by doing too many good things Cassie will end up spreading herself thin and regressing in her good fortune... I guess I'll go back to reading now so I can find out!

Comment below with what you're currently reading!  & don't forget to check out our Instagram for more reading suggestions and #bookish things! 

~Jessica  

What's That Doing In My Book?

Those of you who follow our Instagram account may have seen that I recently purchased a book from a used bookstore and found a kitten bookmark inside.  Those of you who avidly follow our blog  also know that I work in a public library.  Finding that kitty bookmark made me think of all the strange things that I have found inside / near books during my public library work.  Some of them are disgusting but all of them make me laugh, so I thought that I would share some of them with you in honor of last night's full moon and today's date of Friday the 13th. 

1)   A green condom on a children’s book whose cover featured a pickle – I kid you not.  The co-worker who found this thought it was a balloon, to which I yelled, “Don’t touch it!”

2)   A Q-tip –  A woman handed me this book with a Q-tip taped to the outside. 

When I pointed it out to her, she laughed and said “HAHAHA That’s my Q-tip!”

3)   Two pieces of white bread, both individually bagged and found in the outside book drop.

4)   A sanitary panty liner –  Sticker still intact! (Thank God)

5)   Blueberries – These were scattered in the graphic novels, but a bag of raw chicken / blueberries was found upstairs later that evening.

6)   A dental pick for between your teeth – Yes, I made the “Please don’t leave dental hygiene products in books” phone call.

And there have been many, many more.

Kitten bookmark found inside my book. 

When this library book was opened, tons of dried leaves fell out. 

~ 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 

Congratulations Jillian!

CONGRATULATIONS JILLIAN 

 ON YOUR PRECIOUS BABY BOY!  

♡ ♡  ♡