This month was phenomenally good for reading. Between pool time and a little traveling, I managed to read 10 books at 3,241 pages. That’s an average of 100 pages a day!! So here goes
The German Girl by Armando Lucas Correa (336 pages). Another historical fiction. This one about an event I had no idea even occurred. In 1939, war is on the horizon in Berlin. Twelve year old Hannah Rosenthal and her parents flee their home, where generations have lived, and seek passage on the St Louis. This transatlantic ocean liner offers the Jews of Germany a chance to hope that Cuba will take them in. The Rosenthals, Hannah’s sweetheart Leo and his father, and 932 other people board the St Louis. Somehow, in the 3 weeks it takes for them to cross the Atlantic, Cuba changes its mind and refuses to allow 900+ people off the boat. Those people, including Leo and his father and Hannah’s father, are sent back across the Atlantic to any country that will take them. The 200+ who are allowed into England are the only ones who survive unscathed. For the others, concentration camps await them. Hannah, her mother, and her brand new brother start a half-life in Cuba. In 2014 NYC, twelve year old Ana Rosen gets a package from her previously unknown Great Aunt Hannah. So she and her mother travel to Cuba to meet her and learn about the father she never met. I had never heard of the tragedy of the St Louis before. So of course, I did my own research while reading. What a heartbreaking story. I finished in 2 days.
The Girls in the Garden by Lisa Jewell (309 pages). After her husband has a schizophrenic break, Clare takes their daughters, 13 year old Grace and 12 year old Pip, to the seemingly perfect Virginia Park. It’s a communal park in the middle of London. Only those who live around it have access to the park. With multiple other children living around the park, it seems like the right place for them to heal. One night, after a community summer party, Pip finds Grace unconscious and bloody, with her clothes disheveled. What actually happened to her though? What’s going on with the relationships around the park? I finished in 3 days.
The Lying Game by Ruth Ware (368 pages). 17 years after they are expelled from their boarding school, Isa, Fatima and Thea get a text from Kate. “I need you.” When the women return to Salten, all the memories of their year together come rushing back. Including their game, the lying game. Some truths begin to come to light. And a truth that they thought they knew- Kate’s father’s suicide- is revealed to be so much more than they thought. I finished in 3 days.
Good Wives, Nasty Wenches and Anxious Patriarchs by Kathleen M. Brown (373 pages +121 pages of index). Nothing fluff about this book. It was a very deep look at race and gender in colonial Virginia. It also happened to be pretty interesting. Some of the stories about relationships and crimes were fascinating. I finished in 6 days.
The Girl from the Train by Irma Joubert (370 pages). 6 year old Gretl is on a train in Poland, taking her, her sister, her mother and her grandmother to a concentration camp. Their train never makes it, as a bomb meant for a German military train explodes on their track. Gretl is the sole survivor. And Jakob, one of the young Polish men who set up the bomb, finds her. Eventually, Jakob sends Gretl to a German orphanage so that she can be adopted by a family in South Africa. Neither of them ever forget the other. But years and continents separate them. Will the ravages of war and distance keep them apart forever? I had no idea that “good,” Aryan, Protestant, German children were sent to South Africa after the War. So that was fascinating to research. I finished in 3 days.
The Joys of Love by Madeleine L’Engle (255 pages). I thought I’d finished all of the L’Engle books in my antelibrary. Wrong. This one was a hardback, so I missed it. But decided to finish out with this author. This was one of her first novels, but it was published posthumously. In the 1940’s, 20 year old Elizabeth Jerrold is working as an apprentice at a New England summer stock theatre company. She’s fallen in love with the company’s director/leading man, Kurt Canitz. Meanwhile, the assistant director, Ben, has fallen in love with her. The book takes places over just a few days. It’s not action packed or supernatural. It’s simply a sweet coming of age story. I finished in 5 days.
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters (340 pages). The book is exactly what the title implies- a mash up of Sense and Sensibility and sea monsters. It was so much fun. Of course, I say that as a fan of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. If you didn’t like that book, you won’t like this one. Long story short- same story(ish) of the Dashwoods. With a little attack of killer sea creatures and underwater adventures thrown in for fun. I finished in 4 days.
The Twisted Thread by (374 pages). The school year is almost over at prestigious boarding school Armitage Academy. But the school is shaken to the core when beautiful senior Claire Harkness is found dead in her dorm room. Even more shocking, Claire has just given birth and the baby is nowhere to be found. The teachers and local authorities all quickly become involved in uncovering the truth behind Claire’s death. And with it, dark truths of Armitage and its history. It was a great murder mystery novel. I finished in 3 days.
Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner (359 pages). It’s been 15 years since high school graduation. And 15 years since former best friends Val and Addie last spoke. But when Val shows up at Addie’s door the night of their class reunion in need of help, it’s like no time has passed. Addie, still suffering from the tortures of high school (she was overweight and an outcast while Val became a cheerleader), immediately steps right back into her old role. I finished in 2 days.
In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway (157 pages). A collection of short stories? A chapter book that just simply didn’t flow from chapter to chapter but rather jumped from story to story? A strange hybrid that is interspersed with stories from the war? Who knows. Maybe all three. Papa was an amazing writer. But a confusing storyteller. And I’m not sure I’ve ever forgiven him for his treatment of his first wife. But I didn’t really enjoy this. I’ve got some other Hemingway in the antelibrary. So maybe I’ll like something else better. I finished in 2 days. Because there were only 2 days left in the month!
This month’s favorite goes to..... it’s a tie. The Joys of Love and The Twisted Thread. Two totally different books. But both equally enjoyable.
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