After Silence by Jessica Gergson

I almost didn't read this book but boy am I glad that I did ! After Silence is a dark book, as is much of  the world right now. The story opens in Leningrad when the city has been blockaded by the Germans and everything and most of the people left in the city are dead or dying. The opening reminded me too much of what is  happening in Ukraine, although the author had no way of knowing that this would be the world when her book was ready to be published. I had to put it down to sort out my feelings and be sure that I could read this book objectively. I decided that I could, so I restarted reading the book and ,as I have said, I am so glad that I did.

What I realized is that this is a testament  to the human need to connect with people and to share live and feelings no matter the situation. The two main women in this story have had their lives torn apart by war and death. One Katya has no desire to live the other, Lidya is Katya's polar opposite. The war, and the blockade have intertwined their lives in ways that will change them forever. One feels she is betraying someone and the other has been betrayed. The descriptions of their lives and loss are at once beautiful and wretched. 

The story shifts to a school for children where we meet the next main character Dimma, a blind child. His story comes from early, before the blockade and is a remarkable testament to the human spirit. I think that he is my favorite character, but everyone will have their own favorite in this saga.

The third shift in character takes you to the Russian front where you meet Trofim and Sasha. These two make the life of the soldiers fighting for Russia very real and very tragic. They are both hiding secrets. The author does a really good job of creating the sense of real people caught in a story that they did not choose. The book's narrative is told from the points of view of all three of these stories. They all come together and complete each other.

The author answers the question what comes after silence by telling you that is is music. The music is not always what we think of as music. There is music in the living of your life. There is music is shouting at god. There is music all around us. The author ties all of this together against a backdrop of, what we think of, as real music, a symphony. One of music and one of life.

This is a beautifully written story and is well worth reading, thinking about, and discussing with a friend or a book club. It is a story of the human spirit and how it overcomes tragedy and becomes fuller because of it. I hope that everyone who reads this  book enjoys it as much as I did. 

 

One for the Blackbird One for the Crow by Olivia Hawker

This is a  story of just how strong the human will to survive is.  Ms. Hawker dies not romanticize the American West in this story. The book opens with a murder of a neighbor and goes on to tell the story of how that one act affects two families who are bound together by it. Winter on the plains is harsh and both families must find a way to survive  the coming season while working through their own griefs and prejudices. Neither family is guiltless in this telling. The Bemis's because they start the tragedy nor the Webbers  because the matriarch cannot release the secrets that she carries deep inside her. The author is able to tell all of the stories that are both hidden and open in each of the characters in her story. I especially liked how she was able to do this. When I finished this book I wasn't sure how to categorize it. Was it a tale of human resilience over the elements? Was it a tale of buried secrets ? Some so deep that they threatened to destroy the life of the person that held on to them so tightly ? Or was it a love story ? I came to realize that this is a love on every level.. A story of t he love between the husband and wife of both families, and the children of each family. The author tells their stories without prejudice and the reader is lead to discover how it started and how it all  turned out. I really liked this book and will look for more from this author

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

I will never look at the Underground Railroad the same way again. Mr Coates brought it to life in a way that other authors have not. The prose is lyrical and pulls you in . It makes the Underground Railroad real in a way that we should all care about.
I felt the author created characters and situation that felt real and, more importantly deliverable.This book made me think about what the railroad was and the role that Harriet Tubman, and others, played in the creation and execution of it. This is a topic that I wished the schools has taught more about when I was in school. Mr. Coates taught me something and changed the way I though about that period in our history. In the end this is a what a good book should do. I encourage everyone to read it. It is a great book !

Old Folks Rule

This is a new topic for me and Nevada Barr and I loved it.! Rose with the help of her friends create a modern twist  on a basic murder mystery and it works. Ms. Barr combines the wisdom of the elderly with the freshness , and sophistication ,of toady's  youth. Guess what , it works ! This is a fast paced read that will have you guessing ti the end. It will also make you laugh out loud ! It's a refreshing change from her Anna Pigeon Series.  I hope Ms. Barr keeps Rose, and her sidekicks, around for more adventures !

It lends itself to discussion that many book clubs will enjnoy.

The Printed Letter Bookshop

This is a delightful read ! The premise is ordinary but he way the story is told is not. A young lawyer who realizes thatg she will never make partner, an Aunt that leaves her the gift of a lifetime, and people who will accept her and love her. Along the way and old family mystery will be solved. The author tells this story beautifully !

The book took me back to a time when people and what they did mattered. It's not always about the money, but it's always about the manner. The author reminded me about this in the way that she told the story. In this book right wins out over wrong and love does indeed blossom in places and ways that are  totally unexpired. A friend once told me that books come into you life when you need them. They don't always need  to be weighty tomes, very often they are stories like this one that are well told that are just what is needed

I hope t hat we allays have stories like this, authors that are not afraid to write them and the bookshops to sell then in ! This book is perfect for book clubs ! 

This an author that I will look for more books by !

Turn of the Key

Just finished the new Ruth Ware book, Turn of the Key  and it is really good. I really enjoyed how she developed the story, I felt that I got to know the main character, until I didn't know her at all. No spoilers here but this is a story of just how deep adornment cuts and to what ends we will go to try and heal that particular hurt. There were many characters in the book that I liked but didn't like the ending that three of them came too, but the story has to wrap up in a believable way and this one certainly does. I always try to figure out how the story will end and eve when one of the mysteries was reveled, I still couldn't figure it out. This is really worth the time to read ! You will enjoy it!

Romanov  by Nadine Brandes

Oh, that is could be so. This is a wonderful reimaging of what happened to Anastasia Romanov!  Everyone knows that the story ends in tragedy but not here. There have been many people who have claimed to be the last living relative of the Romanovs. All of the clams have been disproven but Ms. Brandes has written a story that made Anastasia come alive into a person who is comfortable in today's world. 

The second half of the book was, for me,  more interesting. The first half deals with the known story and that is interesting. It sets the stage for how the author imagined that the Romanovs were, and it does paint a picture of a free soul that is Anastasia. The author brings the story alive after the family is executed. Magis, spellbinding and love all come into their own with this author. Anastasia is portrayed as a young girl who is kind, loving and fierce! In this retelling of the tragedy, love is triumphant and all ends well. As I said, if only it could be so! I enjoyed reading this book!

What Lies Around Us by Andrew Croft

This is a clever title for a short book that really drives the point of lies home. This is the story of a ghostwriter who has been commissioned to write the biography of a movie star. As with the movies, nothing in this book is real and after awhile neither the main character or the reader. is sure where the truth starts and ends. The book is extremely topical it short and to the point but does make you stop and think about the world that we live in. For all of its modern conveniences, there is a price to be paid, and not in dollars and cents. I enjoyed it. Will want to read more by this author.

I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley.com

Big Time Dreams, Small Town Grifters

What's not to like in this book ! It really has it all, a cast of characters that are relatable and a plot that has all of them shining. Gillespie Texas is a town that is being gentrified and Carel Geische aims to make his dream come true because of it ! Fate however has other plans for him. The county fair is setting up and with it an entire town is either helping him get the reward he thinks be deserves, or is conspiring to keep it from him. At times he's not sure which fate is waiting for him ! And this is what makes the novel fun to read. Along with the characters already in town, someone from his past comes back just in time to stir things up ! Of course, no story set in Texas would be complete with big hearted women, and Marc Hess has written them beautifully ! The story is well told and is fun to read ! You will not be disappointed

A Book in Need of a Story

The Gray Heron by John Wilde is a book in need of a story ! Don’t get me wrong, I really wanted to like this book, but there are too many undeveloped stories here. To show you what I mean. The book opens up introducing the reader to a semi-retired CIA Operative and quickly jumps into a special op mission in Nicaragua which has the potential to be a really good read. The book then quickly devolves into the story of his family and this is where ninety percent of the book stays. In the very end the reader is returned too Nicaragua to tie up the lose ends of the special op mission that the book opened with. Both of these stories have the potential to be developed into really good full bodied stories. Unfortunately, that is not  the case here. The book suffers from lack of a good editor and that is a shame because Mr. Wilde can tell a good story. I just wish he had picked one and fully developed it. I will look for more books by him because I do believe that he will improve with time.

The World we Knew

I love Alice Hoffman's books and read them whenever I can. Alice Hoffman has written a  story that we all need to read. Many of the dark forces that lead to WW2 are once again creeping over the world. This is not just another story about WW2 and the horrors of the Holocaust. It is the story of hope and love that succeeds because Ms. Hoffman has written a story that will capture your heart. She makes you want to feel what she is writing about and to care about what happened. The story starts in Berlin when everything is becoming difficult for the Jews. People are disappearing and life is becoming unbearable. A mother, desperate to save her daughter  Lea from the Nazi's, seeks help from a renowned rabbi. However, it is his daughter. Ettie offers her a solution and together with Ettie's sister, they create a  mystical Jewish creature a special golem which they name Ava. Ava's job is to protect Lea "as a mother would ". Her act is truly a gift and hope for the future. The four girls leave Berlin and head to France, where they believe that they will be safe. The world that they are in is torn apart by forces of evil that have been unleashed by the Nazi's.  As the horrors get worse Ava's job becomes more urgent.  Love and hate, hope and despair exist in the same house and Ava must find a way to fulfill her charge. Ava is mystical and speaks the language of the birds and fish and all things in nature. Ava knows what will happen and she manages to keep Lea safe but she cannot stop the horrors going on around them. Throughout the book, people resist, pay the price, fall in love and die. Ms. Hoffman weaves the natural world into the story in a mystical way. Ava is more a part of that world than the human world and her story is beautiful! The story ends with hope and love. I wanted to keep on reading, I wanted to know more of how the future would be for the characters that she created. I also want to believe that the things that happened can never happen again anywhere in the world.