4.5

When I got this book, I actually didn’t know about the American Library of Paris. I hadn’t heard of it before, even though I’ve been to Paris. I was intrigued about the book taking place in a library during WWII, and it did not disappoint.

I loved that this book featured real people as well as fictional ones, and that a lot of the events actually happened. I had thought at first that the book was completely fictional, though the author does take some liberties and fills in certain events with her own imagining. After I finished it, I tried to find out more about some the people who were in the book that actually existed, such as Ms. Reeder and the Comtesse de Chambrun. I also enjoyed learning about another part of the war that I didn’t know before. As one of the most important events in history, I am always trying to find out more than just the basic facts.

Odile was a great character. She was smart and strong, but at the same time she had insecurities and fallacies, which made her more human. There is one part where she is wondering what kind of people could let a war like this happen and turn a blind eye to those in need. Later on, she realizes we can all be those people, as she made a mistake that caused suffering to someone she cared about. We can say that we will act whenever we see something wrong happening, but we really don’t know what we’ll do until we’re in that situation. And as much as people say they are brave and will do the right thing, when it comes time to act, they may very well turn a blind eye for any number of reasons. Odile had been trying to do her part in one regard, but had feigned ignorance in another. And while I didn’t like the choices she made at times, I do think they fit with her character and the story, and made her more realistic.

The setting in the library was fantastic. I felt as if I were there. I had never seen pictures of the library before I read this, but I could imagine it pretty well. The library was a sanctuary for the characters; somewhere they could go to get away from the stress of the war and feel safe. I think libraries are that way even today. I enjoy going to my local library to pick up new books, and I love going to the older libraries around the city and just sitting inside and relaxing, because they are still a sanctuary where you can go and just be.

Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys WWII novels and libraries and good stories.

3.5

Most of the WWII books I’ve read dealt with events during the war, so it was a nice change to read a book taking place after the war. There are so many storied about the war, but those stories didn’t end when the war did. There was a lot of aftermath that isn’t discussed.

I enjoyed both Vera and Edith. They were too girls struggling with what happened to them, and trying to rebuild their lives the best they could. They had been through so much, but just because the war was over didn’t mean the hardships were. I did get a little frustrated with Edith at times, but I still enjoyed her character overall. Vera was a good main character. She just wanted to get her life in order and move on from the past, but that was easier said than done. I liked Anton, but I really hate how he made the choice for Vera about their relationship. He didn’t even give her a chance to decide. I hated Ricardo. I could tell from the moment he showed up that he was no good. I do think the book wrapped up a little too neatly though. It feels like the author wrote everything in Venezuela with Ricardo the way she did so she could have the perfect ending. It didn’t quite sit right with me, but it wasn’t a huge deterrent.

I do wish I knew what parts of the book were inspired by the author’s mother. I would love to know which parts were part of her mothers life, and which parts were the author’s storytelling. And I hope to read more books dealing with the aftermath of the war, whether they’re fiction or non-fiction.

3 stars

I went into this book expecting more than I got out of it. It read more like a middle grade book than a young adult. The storyline was a little simpler than I was expecting, and the mystery wasn’t much of a mystery. It was pretty easy to figure what was going on and who was doing it. The main characters were all younger children, and they all had pretty basic personalties without a lot of depth. I think this a good book for a younger audience to become acquainted with WWII, but I think older audiences may find it a bit lacking.

3.5

This book was a little more technical and in-depth than I was expecting. I have read other books on astronomy and astrophysics that lay things out pretty simply and in easy to understand terms. This book was in a more advanced category. While there were some things I already knew, there was plenty that was discussed that I didn’t know, and there were several things I had to re-read because I wasn’t quite getting it. There were a lot of charts and mathematical equations included in the book. While the charts helped with explaining certain ideas, a lot of the math was over my head. It’s been a while since I’ve taken college level math, so there were times that I skimmed over those parts.

I think that this is a book that’s better for people who already have a good background in the subject material, as it may be too much for the casual reader.

5 stars

This was a beautifully written book dealing with death and grief. I feel that people, especially Americans, are way too squeamish and scared of death. It is one of the most natural things in the universe; everyone dies. Yet if people talk about it too much, or are interested in death related hobbies such as taxidermy, others deem them weird, death obsessive, or even mentally ill, as was the case in this book. Lottie’s aunt thought she was being too weird, that she had issues, that she wasn’t being lady like. But Lottie was dealing with grief and death in her own way. She loved the bones and the animals she collected. She realized that death can still be beautiful and understood, and she knew that this was helping her to cope. She didn’t think was she was doing was weird or wrong, and it wasn’t. It brought her closer to those she had lost, and helped her deal with their deaths. If more people realized that talking about death doesn’t make you automatically depressed, that it doesn’t make you weird, then maybe we can move past our fear of it.

4 stars

This was a fascinating look into the history of the space race. The book starts long before the race to the moon, and delved into many aspects of the history of it, including the influence that some science fiction writers had, and the many German scientists who ended up in the US after WWII.

It moves from one part to another, and covers many people, including Arthur C. Clarke and Wernher von Braun, and places that had a part in it, such as the US, Germany, and Russia. There were many things I didn’t know, or only had a brief idea of, and this book filled in a lot of missing parts. 

It may come off a little dry, especially to those who aren’t really into reading science and history, but for anyone who has an interest in space and the history of how we got to where we are, this is a perfect book to read.

2.5

This book wasn’t quite what I expected. The synopsis was intriguing, but the execution fell a little flat for me. It was really hard to get into, and took me a long time to finish, even though the book itself isn’t very long.

Leo’s mimic ability was an interesting idea, but it wasn’t really believable. How was she able to mimic a grown man’s baritone perfectly? And adult voices when she was just a child? It also seemed like in some cases she picked up their mannerisms as well as their voices, yet had no control over either. It just seemed a little too far fetched to be believable.

The story was also pretty predictable. I knew how things were going to go long before they ever happened. For a mystery, it certainly wasn’t very mysterious. I guess I was hoping for a little more mystery and believability than what I actually got. I think I would have enjoyed the story more if I had gotten those things.