Books I Read In May

Eight books read in May. The first three shown were obtained through the interlibrary loan system.

Once Upon A River by Bonnie Jo Campbell was from the Little Rock, IA Public Library. First I don't remember why I wanted to read this book, though it may have been recommended by the same person who gave such positive reviews to the next two books. 

Second, I didn't even know there was a Little Rock, Iowa and I pride myself on recognizing most Iowa towns. And third, Little Rock is a small town near the Minnesota border in the far NW county of Lyon. It has a population of less than five hundred and it has a public library. I think that is awesome. 

Oh, and the book was very good, about a teenage girl raised along the Stark River and is determined to stay on the river even after her mother has left and her father is killed. I really liked this book. Campbell has two others that I may just have to order, too, especially Mothers Tell Your Daughters - a book of short stories featuring "ferocious mothers and scrappy daughters".

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters was from the McGregor, IA Public Library; a Man Booker Prize Finalist I learned about in a review by an Oregon FB friend. It is a troubling ghost story set in the English countryside during post WWII. And just like the next book, when you finish reading it, you will find yourself wondering, musing, questioning, long after.

Affinity by Sarah Waters was from the Public Library in Mitchellville, IA, home to the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women, which has to be one huge coincidence because this book centers around the women's ward of Millbank Prison, "Victorian London's grimmest jail". No matter how carefully you read, you'll still have lingering questions.

(As a non sequitur - I attended meetings inside the Mitchellville facility several times in the late 80's. I always felt relieved and thankful when I left. I can't imagine being incarcerated. Well, I can imagine it, I just wouldn't want to learn first hand that it is even worse than my imaginings.)

The Hammer Of Eden by Ken Follett is one of his older books (1998). I am reading my way through all the Follett books at my local library and am struck by the diversity in his story telling. This one is set in California, centered around a post-hippy era commune whose leaders are threatening a man-made earthquake to stop a dam project that will flood their self-sufficient community. 

City of Schemes by Victoria Thompson is the fourth book in her Counterfeit Lady series. These are always fun little reads featuring some pretty elaborate cons.

Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig is based on a true story about a group of Smith College women who volunteered to go to France during WWI to work with and help out families in small villages in Northern France. Their way of life had been destroyed when the German army went through. Those who fought back had been killed; those able to work had been shipped back to Germany as enforced labor. Only old women and small children were left behind to subsist in bombed out cellars, barns and primitive huts. The town where the Smith women are based is very near the front lines. Will they be forced to evacuate? I found this book a very good blending of facts based on letters, reports and biographies of the real Smith women coupled with the author's skillful storytelling and writing.

The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman is the first of her books I've read since 2014. At that time I planned to read more of her books but for some reason did not. 

What happens when a little girl's mother dies and she grows up believing it is because she 'wished' for it to happen? What happens when that grown up girl is struck by lightning, but lives? Hoffman is a masterful writer. I'm glad I still have a few more of her novels yet to read.

We Begin At The End is by Chris Whitaker - a new author for me. I admit I decided to read this book because a favorite author of mine, Louise Penny, was quoted on the cover as saying: "This is a book to be read and rerread and an author to be celebrated."

This from the inside cover blurb: "Chris Whitaker has written an extraordinary novel about people who deserve so much more than life serves them. At times devastating, with flashes of humor and hope throughout, it is ultimately an inspiring tale of how the human spirit prevails and how, in the end, love -- in all its different guises -- wins."

This book and Willig's were my two favorite May reads.

A little bonus - I took photos of the new look of the two flights of stairs at Gibson Memorial Library.

Aren't they fun? I've read all but the top two on the first flight and only one on this second flight, although I've already added one of these to my list of books to get when I go to the library tomorrow.

Tomorrow ushers in the first month of summer and another month of good reading, maybe even a beach book or two?