The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George (audio)

★★★ 1/2

"Books are more than doctors, of course.  Some novels are loving, lifelong companions; some give you a clip around the ear; others are friends who wrap you in warm towels when you've got those autumn blues.  And some...well, some are pink candy floss that tingles in your brain for three seconds and leaves a blissful voice.  Like a short, torrid love affair."

Monseiur Perdu owe a floating bookstore along the Seine - a bookstore that he has owed for years and years and one where he considers himself to be a "literary apothecary" where he prescribes books to his customers.  It's along the same lines as the "the perfect books for right person at the right time" moto that is seem in countless novels focusing on books or bookstores or libraries or whatever.  Even though Monseiur Perdu seems to be able to heal his patrons with a single volume, he cannot seem to fix himself.  We quickly find out that he is still in love with a women who left over twenty years ago and his life seems to be stuck and he can't get over the one true love of his life.

I enjoyed this book.  It had so many wonderful "bookish" quotes and details and I absolutly loved the idea of perscribing books for customers - a very similar line of giving library patrons that books that they need.  But Monseiur did it with such charm and in such a unique way.  Plus the book was set in Paris, which is always a major plus.  I really enjoyed the beginning, but once Monseiur started traveling, I found myself losing interest in the storyline.  I kept wanting to love the book, but the writing and overall shape of the novel just felt a little lacking to me.  The cover and the title were so charming that I I guess I was expecting something a little different from this book.  But I'm ultimately glad I read it and it was overall charming and entertaining.

The Muralist by B. A. Shapiro (audio)

★★★★

Alizee Benoit is an American painter from France who is working on the WPA (Works Progress Administration) mural project in New York City when World War II breaks out.  Even though she is far away from the war, she worries constantly about the rest of her Jewish family living in German-occupied France.  As she tries to get visas for her family to come to the United States, she faces other personal and political obstacles.  And then she suddenly disappears and her family and friends never hear from her again.  

Seventy years later, her great-niece Danielle is still looking for answers.  Also an artist, Danielle finds a series of paints that she thinks may have been done Alizee.  Dealing with her own problems in her personal life, she connect with the story of her great-aunt and is determined to find the truth that she is looking for.

I have read a lot of books about World War II and the holocaust and am always surprised when I read one that looks at a new aspect of the war.  For this book, it was the obstacles that European refugees faces in order to obtain visas to immigrate to the United States.  I'm not sure how many of the details were completely accurate, but the author told an interesting and unique story of a women's struggle to save her family when she was 1,000s of miles away with essentially no power to do so.  I was struck by Alizee's families letters about the treatment of the Jewish people and their desperation to leave the country.  I also really liked the incorporation of art and the WPA and the story was very compelling.

The main reason I gave this book 4 instead of 5 stars was because it was way too predictable.  I figured out end of the story from pretty much the very beginning and there were a lot of details that seemed to fit too perfectly together in order to make the story to work.  I found myself rolling my eyes a few too many times (especially towards the end), but it was all-in-all a very enjoyable book.

The Dream Lover by Elizabeth Berg

★★★

"It is early morning; outside, the sky is dark and the trees move dramatically in the wind.  Soon a storm will come.  I want to live to see it.  This is the way of nature: to persuade us around one more bend, to beckon us to behold one more vista."

Before reading this novel, I did not know much beyond the basic details of George Sand's life.  Being a writer in the 1830s and 1840s is Paris, she lived an extremely unique life as a women ahead of her time.  Elizabeth Berg's books have been on my radar for awhile now, and I was looking forward to reading this historical novel for the Germantown Community Library Adult Book Club this February.

I usually love historical fiction - and who doesn't love a good story set in Paris? - but, I found the novel a bit slow and annoying.  The book was told through alternating time periods: one in the present and the other starting during George's childhood.  I've seen this done well numerous times, but it didn't seem to work well in this book.  There wasn't enough development in the various sections and I often found myself losing track of what time period I was in.  I also found the character of George Sand extremely tiresome.  I'm assuming a lot of the details are historically accurate, but she just seems flaky and I wasn't able to connect with her at all.  I found it ridiculous that she fell in love with literally every single man (and a women as well) that she met.  By the end, I couldn't even keep track of how many lovers she had and all of her love affairs started sounding the same.  It just didn't add up that someone who was such an intelligent and talented individual would act the way she does in the novel.

I wanted to like this book - and I kept trying - but I found myself struggling to finish it.  It had some wonderful writing, but I just couldn't get past how unlikable of a character George Sand was portrayed as.  I did, however, appreciate many historical aspects of the book.  I love reading about Paris - especially in the 1920s - so this gave me another unique view on Paris in a much earlier but somewhat similar time period.  I also loved reading about all of the interesting people that George Sand came into contact with - Frederic Chopin, Victor Hugo, and Franz Liszt to name a few.  Even though I wasn't particularly impressed by this book, I am interested in reading some of Elizabeth Berg's other novels.  From what I have heard, they are mostly contemporary and a lot different.

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (audio)

★★★★★

" 'Oh for heaven's sake, Isabelle.  Paris is overrun.  The Nazis control the city.  What is an eighteen-year-old girl to do about all of that?' "

"If I have learned anything in this long life of mine, it is this: in love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are."

"Men tell stories.  Women get on with it.  For us it was a shadow war.  There were no parades for us when it was over, no metals or mentions in history books.  We did what we had to during the war, and when it was over, we picked up the pieces and started our lives over."

I have always been a fan of Kristin Hannah, but she became one of my all-time favorite authors with her first historical novel, The Winter Garden, a few years ago.  I couldn't wait to read her new novel and it was so worth the wait!  It was beautifully written and is one of the best books that I have read in a long time.  The story is essentially was 'war-time' story of Nazi occupied France during World War II.    It is a story of family and love and war and sacrifice and takes readers on a indescribable journey from the very first page to the last.  I read a lot of historical novels set during the war, but Kristin Hannah as the wonderful ability to capture a new aspect - much like she did in The Winter Garden.  

I won't give away too much of the plot, but the center of the novel is on two sisters - Isabelle and Vienne - and they're determination to survive the war one day at a time.  As the novel progresses, each is faced with unthinkable decisions that they will live with long after the war is over.  One of my favorite parts of the novel (besides the breathtakingly beautiful writing) is how each of the sisters grow and develop throughout the book.   The relationships are intense and are made even-more-so by the constant horrors of wartime France.  A wonderful and unforgettable story!!  I loved every second of it and cannot wait to see what Kristin Hannah has planned next!

This was #1 on my top ten list of 2015.

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

★★★★

"So how, children, does the the brain, which lives without a spark of light, build us for a world full of light."

There is not too much that I can say about this book that hasn't been said before.  An instant best seller, still #8 on the New York Times Best Seller List almost a year and a half after it was published, and the winner more awards that I can count - including the Pulitzer Prize and the Goodreads Choice Awards to name a few.  

This novel is essentially about childhood and war and growing up in a world torn by war.  Marie-Laure  lives with her father in Paris. When she was six years old, she became blind and her father teaches her to learn to navigate the streets by building her an exact replica of their neighborhood.  She is twelve years old when the Nazis occupy France and her and her father flee to the country to live with Marie-Laure's great-uncle for the remainder of the war.  Werner is an orphan growing up in a small mining town in Germany.  He grows up with his young sister listening to the radio and dreaming of bigger and greater things than spending the remainder of his life as a minor.  When the Nazis begin to recruit for the Hitler Youth, Werner sees this as his only opportunity out.  He quickly gains a reputation as being the only one who can fix new instruments critical in the advancement of the Nazis.  As he receives one special assignment after another, Werner slowly realizes that cost that his work has on human life.  Work that will also one day lead him to Marie-Laure.

'All the Light We Cannot See' is a beautiful story of two children who grow up during the war.  Two children that grow up during unspeakable times having to make unspeakable decisions way beyond their years. The novel alternates between Marie-Laure in very short chapters, making the almost 600-page novel go by much faster than expected.  The imagery was wonderful and was, essentially, what makes this book such a masterpiece.  It was also what made it hard for me to rate this book as amazing instead of simply wonderful.  The writing was almost too beautiful - I kept thinking that I was missing something.  It was almost like reading literate poetry.  Breathtakingly beautiful, but a little hard to follow throughout an entire novel.  Especially since the chapters were so short and the development of each character's story was woven to intricately with the other.

I did really enjoy this book, but I don't think I was able to appreciate it in it's entirety.  I tend to read way to fast and so I wasn't able to grasp as much of the detail as I would have liked.  I think this may be one of the few books that I will have to re-read someday!

This book was #6 on my top ten list of 2015.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

★★★★★

"If you've ever wondered where your dreams come from when you go to sleep at night, just look around.  This is where they are made."

2.10.2015 - When Hugo Cabret’s father is killed in a tragic accident in the early 1930s, Hugo is sent to live with his uncle who works in a Paris train station.  His uncle teaches him to monitor the clocks in the station, but Hugo is left to take care of himself after his uncle disappears.  With his uncle gone, Hugo focuses on fixing automation machine that was left by his father and steals from the train toy shop to complete the work.  Hugo is caught by the shop’s own named Georges and becomes friends with his goddaughter, Isabelle.  The two work together to fix the machine that Hugo believes will give him a message that will save his life.  Along the way, Hugo and Isabelle learn that her godfather is really Georges Melies, a pioneer filmmaker, a discovery that leads to secrets of the past that they hope will unlock a key to the future.

The novel is a combination of text and images that creates a truly unique and magical story.  The intriguing plot draws readings in from the very first page and the author reveals small details to allow for thrilling journey through Hugo’s adventures and the history of film.  Each element of the story seems careful planted to allow for a beautifully written narrative. 

In an interview with amazon, Brian Selznick states that he enjoyed books where the “very act of turning the pages play a pivotal role in telling the story” and tried to produce this in the book.  This was exemplified stunningly through the almost the over 250 black and white illustrations.  The pictures were extremely detailed and focused on details of the story.  They not only complimented the text, but were used to tell aspects of the plot as well. 

I absolutely loved this book and it is now one of my favorite children’s and young adult books that I have read.  I brought it while my husband and I were staying in the hospital after our daughter was born and read it in one sitting.  I was fascinated by the exceptional storytelling and the unique format that included elements of a novel, picture book, and graphic novel.  I thought all of the illustrations were extremely well done and did a wonderful job of complementing the text.  I would recommend this book to everyone I know who is looking for a truly unique reading experience.

 7.30.2015 - Reread this to Isabelle when she was about 6 months old and loved it the second time around as well.  Amazing combination of works and pictures to tell a fascinating story!

This book was #10 on my top ten list of 2015.

All Our Worldly Goods by Irene Nemirovsky

★★★ 1/2

"Everyone waited for the war to start the way people wait for death: knowing it is inevitable, asking only for a little more time."

I read Nemirovsky's novel Suite Francaise a few years ago and loved it!  This novel is also set in France and covers the period from right before World War I in 1911 through the beginning of World War II.  It end quite optimistic in 1940 - a bit ironic considering Nemirovsky was killed in Auschwitz before she could finish Suite Francaise.  

The story follows Pierre and Agnes, who are disowned by Pierre's grandfather when he decides to marry for love and not marry Simone who he was promised to.  Brought up in a rich family, Pierre and his family are forced to make their own lives in the world.  He survives the first war only to send his son off to the second war years later.  Simone also appears through out the story, and Pierre's decisions have great consequences for him and his family.  

I'm not sure why this took me so long to get through.  It was beautifully written and brings to live small-town France during a unique time period between the world wars.  There is a lot of character development and themes of family, abandonment, war, and community.  It also is a great prequel to Suite Francaise - even though the characters and story are completely different.