Author: Book Girl

The Air Raid Book Club

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The Air Raid Book Club by Annie Lyons

This is a heartwarming historical novel, set during World War II, on the Home Front in England. My sister suggested the book to me, and her book club is planning to discuss it later this year. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Jilly Bond. I took three weeks to savor the audiobook, and found myself thinking about the characters and the story at other times. It is very British, and often funny, even though it’s set during the war.

Gertie Bingham misses her late husband Harry so much that she is thinking of retiring and moving to a beach side town with her dog, Hemingway. She wants to sell Bingham Books, on the outskirts of London, to another bookseller, but her realtor hasn’t found the right buyer. Gertie’s assistant Betty is continuing to run their longtime book club, but Gertie’s stopped participating. Gertie’s Uncle Thomas, who owns a bookstore in London, is dismayed at her plans, as is her longtime friend Charles. Instead, Charles wants Gertie to consider fostering one of the Jewish children he is helping rescue from Germany. Reluctantly, she agrees, but only if the child is a girl who can already read. Enter Hedy Fisher, a serious young teen. First there’s the language barrier, and Hedy’s homesickness for her parents and brother Arno. Hemingway the dog and Betty become Hedy’s friends. Gertie and Elsa, Hedy’s mother, correspond, and gradually Hedy and Gertie learn to understand each other. When war is declared between Germany and Great Britain, all Hedy’s family can send are 25-word telegrams. Then the air raids begin in England.

The community comes together in the war effort, and they discuss books in the bookstore’s air raid shelter. A few women in the neighborhood are prickly types, but have soft hearts underneath. There are some romances and a few wartime marriages, and the book club extends its reach by mail all over Europe. While there are dark days in plenty here, the war violence is off screen. I won’t share more of the plot as it might take away from the experience of reading this deeply satisfying and engaging story. Gertie and Hedy, along with Hemingway, should win the hearts of many readers.

Brenda

The Great Divide

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The Great Divide by Cristina Henríquez

This historical novel is set in 1907 in Panama and Barbados, during the building of the Panama Canal. It takes a while for the varied characters to have their stories connect, but individually they are interesting and the connections are intriguing. Fisherman Francisco Aquino sells the fish he catches to Joaquín. Francisco’s son Omar doesn’t like being out on the water. His mother apparently drowned many years ago. Omar goes to work on the canal, to the disapproval of his father. They don’t speak anymore, just eat dinner together then go to sleep. When Omar doesn’t come home for a few weeks, Francisco worries, but isn’t sure what to do.

Joaquín resells the fish she buys from the fisherman. His wife Valentina and her sister grew up in the town of Gatún, which is to be moved for the canal. Valentia takes Joaquín to Gatún for a visit, and wants him to start a protest.

The working conditions on the canal are terrible, though the men are made to take quinine to try to prevent malaria. Omar gets malaria anyway, and collapses. He is helped by Ada and a doctor. Ada Bunting, 16, comes from Barbados. She is looking for work in Panama because her sister needs expensive medical treatment. They grew up in a house that her mother had moved when she was a baby. Ada’s mother is a seamstress and dress designer. The doctor, John Oswald, is impressed by Ada, and hires her to tend his wife Marian, who is ill.

Eventually Omar returns home to his silent but very relieved father. There are more characters and plot twists, but the focus is on the canal and how it is affecting the workers and the villagers. I really enjoyed Henríquez’s contemporary novel The Book of Unknown Americans. The Great Divide is a compelling read, but not as memorable as I’d hoped. This is a Read with Jenna selection.

Brenda

Cicadas are Here!

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It’s been 17 years, and the cicadas are back! We have Brood XIII cicadas. Friday, only a couple. Saturday morning, we were looking for them at a forest preserve a few towns away, but not seeing much. Saturday afternoon, hundreds in our yard. Today, maybe thousands! I don’t think I’ll be walking on the grass for a while. The pale cicada has just emerged from the nymph exoskeleton, and will soon look like the other one. They are all over the grass, on daylily foliage, and on a burning bush. Mostly, they are covering the trunk of honey locust trees in my neighborhood. This neighborhood didn’t have many cicadas 17 years ago, though a park with large oak trees a few blocks away did.

The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley

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The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley by Courtney Walsh

This contemporary novel covers one year in the life of Chicago University researcher Isadora. The setting sounds like the University of Chicago. On her 30th birthday, Isadora stocks up on junk food, soda, and a magazine with an article titled “31 Ways to Be Happy Today!”. So far, her life hasn’t been happy. She loves her job, but that’s pretty much her life. Her apartment is very bland, and she mostly eats frozen dinners. Her mother may be a narcissist, and has never stood up for Isadora. Isadora sets out to prove that the article is wrong, and that the 31 steps will not lead to happiness.

First, after practicing in a mirror, she smiles at Marty, an older man sitting on a nearby bench. They end up meeting regularly for lunch on the bench. Isadora, very reluctantly, agrees to her assignment to help psychologist Cal organize his research project. Cal is, of course, handsome. Then Isadora meets her neighbor Darby, whose husband Dante cooks amazing Italian food, and goes to Saturday morning yoga with her. Yoga is decidedly not fun, but she encounters some nice people, including the instructor. Darby and Dante have four kids; 3 little boys and 10-year-old Delilah. Delilah likes quiet and shows up at Isadora’s apartment with a lunch box and a book, and turns out to be a kindred spirit, although one who can also pick locks.

The plot is somewhat predictable but the story is as appealing as cherry pie, and includes a gentle romance. A very funny scene has Isadora burning her grudges in her fireplace. She learns to forgive herself, tell off her ex-boyfriend, and go on adventures with Cal. Isadora is realistically scared to open herself up to connection with her new friends, worried about being hurt again. The final scene is her birthday, one year later. An engaging read.

Brenda

Hot Sheet

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Hot Sheet: Sweet and Savory Sheet Pan Recipes for Every Day and Celebrations by Olga Massov & Sanaë Lemoine

Lots of fresh new ideas for sheet pan cooking and baking in this beautifully photographed cookbook. Olga is a food editor at the Washington Post while Sanaë is a cookbook editor at Phaidon Press who took over Olga’s desk and files. They became friends and love to discuss recipes.

I tried three of the savory recipes, and would happily make all of them again. First, I made Roasted Greek-ish Salad with Halloumi, which includes a cucumber yogurt dip made with grated Persian cucumbers and chopped parsley. We’re roasted halloumi cheese fans here, but the cucumber yogurt dip stole the show. Next, I made Roasted Cherry Tomatoes with Whipped Ricotta, which features a honey drizzle and optional endive leaves, and was excellent on crusty bread. Finally, I cooked Sausages with Fennel, Peaches, and Spinach. I substituted Field Roast veggie sausages, which worked well, and skipped the fresh basil. The roasted peaches, made with sliced frozen fruit, were an awesome touch.

Directions were clear and the flavors were delicious. Besides the savory sheet pan recipes there are also desserts, breakfast dishes, and simple pantry recipes. Many other recipes look enticing. If you enjoy sheet pan recipes, Deb Perelman’s Smitten Kitchen also has plenty. Enjoy!

Brenda

Rose / House

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Rose / House by Arkady Martine, narrated by Raquel Beattie

I listened to this science fiction/horror/locked room mystery novella set more than 100 years in the future, in a California desert. Architect Basit Deniau left Rose House for his last creation. His remains are now in a large diamond displayed in the house, which has an AI caretaker designated Rose House. Narrator Raquel Beattie does an excellent job with the voices of several humans and the AI. A basement vault in the house has files of architectural and AI designs that are highly desired by other architects and corporations. Unfortunately for them, only Dr. Selene Gisil has access to Rose House. She is a former protégé of Deniau’s who later disagreed with him, but was named archivist after Deniau’s death. Dr. Gisil can stay in Rose House for one week each year. This year, she lasted three days before she called Detective Torres of China Lake Precinct to pick her up. Water theft is the precinct’s most common crime. Torres’ partner, Officer Maritza Smith, gets a call from Rose House stating that a body has been in the house for the past 24 hours. How can she get in? Only Dr. Gisil has access, and she’s out of the country.

Rose House AI is unsettling, even creepy, especially its laugh, and the house is built in a confusing spiral pattern. There are nanites, which can form images, but may also trigger asthma. There are Andorrans (Europeans, not aliens) and, of course, roses. Many roses. This novella, while different from Martine’s longer Teixcalaan science fiction novels, beginning with A Memory Called Empire, is a compelling and memorable read.

Brenda

Christa Comes Out of Her Shell

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Christa Comes Out of Her Shell by Abbi Waxman

I have read Abbi’s five other novels, beginning with The Garden of Small Beginnings, and loved most of them. They tend to have an ensemble cast with quirky, big-hearted main characters. This novel has an outrageous plot, complete with twists and turns, and is occasionally laugh-out-loud funny.

Christa Barnet is the youngest daughter of Denise and the late Jasper Liddle. As a child, she sometimes appeared on television with one of her parents, usually holding a cute animal. Now she is a marine biologist on a remote island in the Indian Ocean, studying sea snails. Summoned back to Los Angeles along with her older sisters, Christa learns that her father has reappeared in Alaska, where his plane crashed when she was 2. Before rejoining his family, Jasper first appears on a popular talk show.

Christa hasn’t spent much time recently with her mom and sisters and doesn’t remember her dad. She does remember the trials of being a slightly famous teen, and is haunted by memories of a Hollywood party at which she was handed a drugged drink. Family friend Nate Donovan comes to the rescue, then and now. He is very handsome and doesn’t mind that Christa is prickly, short, and has many tattoos of marine life.

An over-the-top storyline with appealing main characters and cool settings in scenes set on the fictional island of Violetta, and on a merry-go-round, add to the book’s appeal. Also, there’s Marcel, the cute family dog, a bear cub named Dorothy, plus a gorgeous book cover. You don’t need an interest in snails or tide pools to enjoy this engaging novel, which is sure to be popular. I also enjoyed the illustrations by Julia Waxman. Readalikes include books by Emily Henry.

Brenda

The Floating Hotel

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The Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis

This is not a cozy science fiction novel, but feels like it in parts. The Grand Abeona Hotel has been a luxury resort hotel traveling between solar systems for many decades. Nina was the manager, now Carl is. Many staff started out as runaways, like Carl. As it’s become difficult to get good staff, they are welcomed. The hotel is starting to show some wear and has been traveling the same sub-orbital route for the past few years.

While I usually focus on characters first, then plot, in The Floating Hotel I wanted more description of the hotel, the views, the food and clothes. I understand the need for intrigue to move the plot along, but to use a TV analogy, I wanted more Love Boat and less Fantasy Island.

We meet the head housekeeper, accountant, the front desk manager, an engineer, and the organizer of an movie club. A linguist and a mathematician come aboard for an academic conference at the Hotel, and are paired to solve an impossible logic puzzle. There are always new guests. Everyone has a secret and a story. Perhaps the Lamplighter is on board with their revolutionary online dispatches; the unidentified spies are searching for them. Also on board are a blind pianist with a visor, a new server, a thief, and a terrible rich boss. The worlds visited are not entirely democratic, and there is some danger to the ship and crew. Lovely and melancholy, with some mystery and suspense.

Brenda

Our Moon, The Lost Moon, plus the Solar Eclipse

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Our Moon: How Earth’s Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution, and Made Us Who We Are by Rebecca Boyle

This thought-provoking book is about the Moon and our connections to over millennia. The theories about how the Moon probably came to be are described, and there is lots of focus on how it helped us keep track of the seasons, tell calendar time, with descriptions of a number of monuments highlighting the Moon. Lighting the night sky was important, then learning the effect of the Moon on tides, mythology, Moon worship, early Moon viewing, lunar and solar eclipses are all covered. Moon exploration and possible near future exploitation are also topics. This book was a leisurely and engaging read for me. Part of it was read while looking forward to the total solar eclipse on April 8, in which the Moon gave us an opportunity to view the Sun’s corona. Here are a couple of photos from the eclipse, taken in Putnam County, Indiana, where you could also see Jupiter and Venus.

April 8, 2024 Solar Eclipse

Lost Moon

Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 by Jim Lovell & Jeffrey Kluger

Published in 1994, this is the true story of the Apollo 13 Moon mission that almost resulted in tragedy; a compelling read by Astronaut Jim Lovell. It was interesting to see how different challenges and solutions were presented differently in the popular 1995 film Apollo 13. Readalikes include Failure is Not an Option by Gene Kranz and Rocket Men by Robert Kurson about Apollo 8, Lovell’s first mission to the Moon.

Brenda