Wonderland Creek

Finished June 16

Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin

This historical novel is set in 1936. Alice Ripley lives with her parents in a suburb of Chicago. Her father is a pastor and while Alice trained as a teacher, she wasn't good at classroom discipline and went into work at her local public library instead. 

As the book begins, Alice's fiancé breaks up with her, which she has a hard time accepting although she honestly doesn't have strong feelings for him. She also loses her job due to funding. When her aunt and uncle take a road trip to a resort, she gets them to drop her and hundreds of books that she collected for a rural library in Kentucky off at that library, arranging for them to pick her up again a week later. But she finds a situation quite different than she expected. The librarian is a man, which she didn't expect since she'd been corresponding with him and assumed the name Leslie was a female one. There isn't room for her to stay anywhere in the small village without putting someone else out of a bed, and Leslie (known as Mack to his friends) is also looking after the dying black woman who raised him.

When Leslie gets shot and badly wounded, Alice finds herself stepping into his shoes as she manages the household, the library, and even takes on duties as one of the Packhorse Librarians working out of the small library. 

I liked how Alice grew from her experiences, but also had an influence on the community through her love of reading and her dedication to literacy. She overcame many of her prejudices and fears and found real relationships among the hill people as she learned about their struggles, include the union movement, the local feud, and secrets kept close. 

Funny Story

Finished November 4, 2025

Funny Story by Emily Henry

This romance novel was a quick read, as I got totally caught up in the story. Daphne moved to Michigan from Vermont with her fiancé Peter, finding a dream job as a children's librarian in the small town. As the novel opens, Peter returns from his bachelor party only to inform her that he is in love with his female best friend Petra, a tall blonde elegant woman that he's always assured Daphne is just a friend. They are leaving for a couple of weeks to give Daphne time to find a new place to live and move out. Daphne is shattered, and the next person to appear at her door is equally shattered, Petra's boyfriend Miles. So Daphne decides that she will move in with him and he agrees.

At first they grieve their losses separately, but another shared dig at their loss brings them together, Daphne makes a questionable choice in deception, and Miles offers to show her around this area of Michigan, which she hasn't really explored. Daphne also begins interacting more with her co-workers, starting with her adult librarian counterpart Ashleigh. 

I could relate to the librarian side of things, and feel for the sudden change of heart of Daphne's fiancé. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the outings that Miles and Daphne took as they explored the area, and loved Ashleigh's character. The author has written another satisfying and fun-filled read that is great to curl up with and immerse oneself in. 

The Library of Borrowed Hearts

Finished September 17

The Library of Borrowed Hearts by Lucy Gilmore

This contemporary novel is set in small town Washington state, where main character Chloe Sampson had to give up her dreams to leave college to look after her younger siblings when her mother abandoned the family. Chloe loves her siblings and is close to them all, and loves her work at the local library, where she works with best friend Pepper. When she finds a book in the library's basement with messages between two people written inside, she finds herself drawn into this historical mystery. She wants to know the story of the two young lovers who used the book as a way to leave messages for each other. 

Her grouchy hermit of a neighbour Jasper Holmes also takes an interest in the book, and this draws her and her family into his life. 

When Chloe finds that this isn't the only book the couple used, she finds herself on a search for other books. She also finds herself looking for clues to the identity of the young people in question. She finds the identity of the young man first, but struggles to figure out who the young woman is. When a young man enters her life through the escapades of one of her brothers, she finds herself opening herself up to new dreams. 

I enjoyed this book-centred novel, and the story of both the historical lovers and the current day characters. Chloe's siblings are interesting, particularly her brother Aloysius (aka Noodle) who has his own struggles. The book offers up plot surprises and new opportunities for many of the characters. Very enjoyable. 

A Talent for Murder

Finished August 5

A Talent for Murder by Peter Swanson

This is the third book in the Henry Kimball series, but they can be read as standalones. Here, one of the main characters is Martha Ratliff. Martha works as a librarian in Maine and recently met and married a salesman who she connected with, Alan. Alan travels a lot for work, which means that Martha still gets time alone, which she also enjoys. When she sees a blood streak on the back of one of his shirts just after a conference, she begins to question how well she knows her husband. She does some research into the last few cities he visited and sees a disturbing pattern of unsolved cases of murdered women. 

Not wanting to directly accuse him in case she is wrong and this accusation creates a rift in their marriage if it isn't true, she reaches out to a college friend who once helped her get out of a controlling relationship. Her friend is Lily Kintner, who is also a key figure in this series. 

Lily can see why Martha is concerned and offers to meet Alan and get some insight into him, and what he might be up to. But when Lily goes to the town his current conference is in, she finds something much more concerning and with ties to the past. When more deaths begin to happen, Lily reaches out to Henry for assistance. 

This is a twisty and disturbing tale of a psychopath and criminal urges that tie in with revenge. It was hard to put down and has many plotpoints that I didn't foresee. A great read. 

The Great Catsby

Finished July 1

The Great Catsby by B.K. Baxter

This light and humorous mystery is the first in a series called Nola Tail, featuring librarian Jade Hastings and her cat roommate Sir Chonksworth the Bold (Chonks). They've moved from Baltimore to Beulah, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans, after Jade inherited a house from her Uncle Mike. The house is a large Victorian home, and while Jade has thought about selling it, she loves the details, especially the library, and plans on gradually repairing it and restoring it. 

Jade has been able to get a part-time job at the local library, and is starting up a book club, reading the classics. At her first meeting, she hands out The Great Gatsby, and they have an initial discussion. Most of those that came are genuinely interested in reading, but Tabby, the new young wife of one of the town's wealthiest men, Vince Means, is there because her husband urged her to. 

When Tabby is found dead the following morning, the police focus on Stanley (Taz), the young man working at the grocery store. Even though there is evidence that points to him, Jade is sure that the gentle and kind man couldn't have done the crime and she is determined to find the truth. As she and Chonks dig into the town's social dynamics and history, Jade finds new friends like Charlotte, the vet, and Ethan, a handyman. She also finds herself the newest target of the killer. 

A fun read, with viewpoints from both Jade and Chonks. It is Chonks that really figures things out and is the hero of the book, but he forgives his roommate and the other humans for not having the senses and intellect to figure it out.  

I like the way the authors bring the book from the book club into the plot in an interesting way and, of course, any book with a librarian and cat and the centre is a plus for me. 

The Lost Book of Bonn

Finished May 28

The Lost Book of Bonn by Brianna Labuskes

This historical novel has two timelines. The one the story starts with is that of Emmy Clarke, an acquisitions librarian with the Library of Congress. It is 1946, and she has been sent to Offenbach tasked with going through books at the Archival Depot looking for anything that could be deemed 'enemy literature' in an effort to learn more about why and how all this had happened. As a precaution she would be going as a US Army soldier in uniform.

Emmy was raised in Montana by a single mother who ran a travelling library through logging camps. She later moved east and worked in public libraries before taking her current job. Her husband Joseph died in the Normandy invasion and she holds anger towards the German people for it. Emmy is met by Major Wesley Arnold, of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives unit who has been part of the group searching for cultural works taken by the Nazis. 

As they travel from the train station to the Depot, they drive through rubble and see the hunger in the people along the way. She finds her feelings towards the Germans becoming more complex, and doesn't feel good about the suffering she is observing. In conversation with the Major, Emmy says that she doesn't think this is what justice looks like. Her first visit to the depot she finds overwhelming with the volume of material there. When she randomly opens a box and finds a book of poetry with an inscription written with love, she feels that she must return it to the owner. Despite her desire to put books back into the hands of the owners, that is not her mission. She is only allowed to work on books, documents, and films that originated in Germany or were created or owned by Nazi Party leaders. This is to guard against any accusations of looting. The book that she picked up does not fit in this category, but her emotional reaction to it leads her to take it and try to find the Annelise the book is inscribed to. 

The second timeline begins in 1937 in Bonn, and follows Annelise Fischer, a young woman who is part of a group of teens who enjoy outdoor pursuits like hiking and camping, but who have also started acting against the groups of Hitlerjugend (HJ) increasingly present in their town. They call themselves the Edelweiss Pirates. We see the friendships, the teamwork, and the worries of these young people. Annelise in particular worries about her younger sister Christina who has recently joined the HJ to try to fit in, but who is naive and doesn't understand the full ramifications of what she is part of. As the war begins and the teens move into adulthood, their actions become more serious and the risks become more dangerous. As Annelise falls in love with a young Jewish man, she tries to protect him, and avoid the eye of a German soldier who desires her. Christina ends up in the middle, and we see her growing into understanding and her own way of dealing with her situation. 

As we follow the three women: Emmy, Annelise, and Christina, and learn their stories, this novel takes us into their lives and the decisions they make. Each will find their heart pulled by someone, and each will have to make choices that are sometimes uncomfortable. This book draws these characters with depth and empathy, and the plotlines both fit real history and the lives of these women. A great read. 

Rose Addams

Finished February 5

Rose Addams by Margie Taylor

Rose Addams is in her early sixties and working at a Vancouver area public library. She's a woman who enjoys her work, and takes an interest in her children's lives. On her way home one day in late August, her daughter Morgan calls and asks her to call back when she gets home. Morgan, who lives in Toronto with her fiancé Ian, and is nearing the final portion of her Ph.D. dissertation tells her that the engagement is off.

A few days later, she on her way to work when a young man she's seen sitting outside the nearby grocery store approaches her and tells her how he knows her. Rose is surprised and saddened. This reminds her of the early days of motherhood and how her and her husband Charles had handled an earlier childcare challenge in their lives. 

When she arrives home, she has more surprises in store. Her husband Charles, just a few years older than her, informs her that he has retired from his job as a university professor, and chair of his department. He tells her that it is due to a conversation that he had with an undergraduate student around student expectations. She is surprised and disappointed that he made such a big decision without even talking about it with her first. She is further surprised by a call from Morgan saying that she is coming home in a few days, just after the Labour Day weekend. 

As Rose and Charles host a dinner party the following evening with friends and colleagues, and he announces his retirement, the guests are surprised and dismayed. They include another professor and friend, Garnet, and his newest paramour a young graduate student, Lauren; the department secretary Bernadette and her brother Richard; and Rose's best friend Marie, a children's author, and her accountant husband Jeff. Bernadette is particularly dismayed and surprised, but Garnet is also disappointed that he wasn't consulted about the move, since he originally took Charles under his wing when Charles joined the department as a young professor. 

Rose likes Morgan's partner Ian, but is less enamored of her son Jason's partner Lee, who she feels judges her. She hasn't spent much time with Lee though, and not everyone see what Rose feels. 

As Rose deals with all these changes, and more, she questions her own feelings, second guesses her impulses, and finds herself dealing with a future she didn't imagine. 

I really enjoyed this book, and many of the issues that Rose is faced with felt very real and relatable. A book from a Canadian writer new to me, that I will definitely look out for. 

On Borrowed Time

Finished September 23

On Borrowed Time by Jenn McKinlay

This is the fifth book in the A Library Lover's Mystery series, and the first that I've read in the series. The main character is Lindsey Norris, the library director in the small town of Briar Creek, Connecticut. It is coming up to Christmas, and Lindsey is expecting her brother Jack to join her for a few days before they connect with their parents at Christmas. 

When he shows up unexpectedly at her work, she leaves him in a meeting room, but when she returns a few hours later, he is gone and there is a dead man on the floor. 

Lindsey is also in a bit of a love triangle with her ex-boyfriend Mike Sullivan, a boat captain, and new suitor actor Robbie Vine. This rivalry continues to be a side plot throughout the novel. 

Lindsey has made friends since coming to the community, and many of them are part of a book club she runs. 

She doesn't tell anyone about her brother's presence or disappearance when the police arrive to the murder scene, believing that she is protecting her brother, but she grows more worried for him after menacing phone calls and threats begin to appear, and she calls her friends into action. 

Overall, I wasn't won over by the book. Lindsey's actions weren't logical and her reasons were pretty flimsy. I found the rivalry banter a bit juvenile for middle aged men, and it seemed over the top. 

Jack's job and situation were far-fetched, and he seemed to exhibit both spy-like (with the passing along of information), and amateurish, bringing Lindsey into a dangerous situation. 

The trap to stop the boat seemed unlikely, both in the set-up and in the outcome. 

This novel didn't make me interested in more in the series. 

The Invisible Library

Finished May 21

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

This book starts a series, and is a fantasy book with an interesting, for me at least, focus. The library of the title is a place that exists between worlds, as a kind of gateway. It takes up a lot of space, and has multiple rooms, all filled with shelves of books, with nooks where computers exist, for looking things up, writing reports, communicating with others, etc. That's pretty interesting as a construct for me. The idea of nearly endless books is fascinating. The library collects books from different worlds to strengthen the connection with those worlds. The senior librarians determine what books to collect and send junior librarians, like the central character here, Irene, out to get them. 

The worlds are different versions of our world. Sometimes only slightly different, sometimes vastly different. The library tries to keep things in balance. Too much technology can result in a tightly ordered world with no creativity. Too much magic can result in a world of chaos. The world that Irene and the trainee that is assigned to her, a man named Kai, is leaning towards chaos. 

We get a sense of what can happen as Irene finished up a case as the book opens, using her skills and her knowledge of the special Library language to control things. This glimpse is intriguing. 

They arrive in an alternate London through a gate inside an office in the British Library. The book they are seeking is rare and, when they arrive, has already been stolen by someone. The person, a vampire in this case, that bought it recently was killed. They soon discover that they are not the only ones seeking the book, a book of tales by Grimm, and that one of those is a fae. 

The mix of magic and reality is done well, and some of the elements of attack are unexpected, consisting of creatures that we normally don't think of as in the context they appear in, or that fit the context by attack in unexpected ways. 

There is also the idea of dragons as creatures on the side of good. The dragons are on the side of order not magic, and have their own abilities in doing this. There is also an element of peer rivalry between Irene and another librarian, which influences the plotline. 

A book that had me engrossed and amused at the same time. I liked the touches of humour that existed within the book, and the underlying tensions between some characters that were attracted to each other. All together a fun read. 

What You Wish For

Finished December 27

What You Wish For by Katherine Center

This novel is about second chances, finding joy in something every day, and giving yourself time to play. Samantha Casey is the librarian at a private school in Galveston, Texas. She has become close with the couple that founded the school, Max and Babette, and lives in the coach house on their property. It was Max that taught her to look for joy. Sam has changed from a woman who was smart but shy into one who delights in colour, who truly engages with the kids in her school because she pays attention to them, and yet also one who has still not allowed herself to dream all those dreams she has. 

When tragedy strikes, Duncan Carpenter is hired to be the new school principal, and Sam can't believe it. Duncan Carpenter is a man from her past, one that provided inspiration for who she is today, but the man who shows up is utterly changed from the one she knew. 

Duncan, and the man who hired him, seem focused on one thing and one thing only, and that focus threatens the heart of this very creative school. Sam, and the rest of the school community must rally together, despite their grief, and work to change Duncan back into the man she had a crush on years ago.

I really related to this second chance love story, and the two main characters. Samantha is a woman after my own heart, one who delights in being creative and fun, and listening to those she cares about to meet their needs in the best way she can. Duncan is a man who has endured a very traumatic event, and who is searching for a way forward, but not always making the best choices. One gets glimpses of his heart early on, but it takes a long time for his story to be revealed.

I also really loved this school, and the other teachers that are part of the story, from math nerd to phys ed teacher. If this school, or ones like it exist, the kids that go there are really lucky. 

A great read, one of my favourites of the year. 

The Bookshop Murder

Finished November 3

The Bookshop Murder by Merryn Allingham

This is the first book in a series of historical mysteries and is set in the mid-1950s. Flora Steele owns a bookshop in the village of Abbeymead in Sussex. She inherited it from her aunt, who raised her after the death of her parents when she was young. Flora had plans for her first few months after getting her library degree, but her aunt's illness and death meant that she is now tied to the store and her life there. When a customer discovers a body in her store, she finds that gossip and rumour are hitting her financial, with a decrease in sales and traffic. With the police not interested in tracking down the reasons this stranger broke into her store, she decides to take matters into her own hands, with the assistance of the crime-writing customer who discovered the body. 

I got a real sense of village life here, and how people were reacting to events of the time, like the end of rationing, and the turnover of traditional manor properties. Flora is a determined young woman, and is unhappy about not being taken seriously. She is full of ideas, but also open to critiques of those ideas with solid facts. One gets a very concrete examples of how women's views and concerns were not treated with the same respect as men's. I definitely got a sense of how the series might continue and how some plotlines might develop further in future books. An enjoyable read. 

The Transatlantic Book Club

Finished September 19

The Transatlantic Book Club by Felicity Hayes-McCoy

This novel is part of a series set in a small Irish town, but the only one in the series that I've read. The central characters here are Cassie Fitzgerald, a Toronto-born young woman who makes a living as a hairdresser, and has worked mostly on cruise ships so far in her career; and her Irish grandmother Pat Fitz. Before the book begins, Pat has lost her husband Ger to cancer. Cassie is on hand because she had accompanied her grandparents back to Ireland after they'd come to Canada to visit their two sons who had emigrated there. Also, before this book happens, Cassie and Pat had gone to Resolve, a town in the United States, where many people from their area of Ireland had emigrated, and where Pat had spent a summer years before, just before she got married.

Cassie is young and impulsive, but also kind and full of energy. She has arranged a part-time job as a hairstylist at a local spa/hotel, as well as one driving the library bus two days a week to villages in the area. This way, she explores the area a bit and gets to know some of the local people and begins friendships. She worries about her grandmother and how she will be on her own. 

Pat still lives above the butcher shop that her husband ran, although his holdings include the farm where they raised the meat, and other properties. She is also still close to her childhood friend Mary, whose husband Tom died a few years before. Only one of Pat's sons still lives in Ireland, Frankie, and she isn't close to him, and that relationship is explored some here. 

Mary's daughter Hanna runs the local library in Lissbeg, and it is through working at the library that Cassie gets the idea to set up a book club between Lissbeg and Resolve, connecting the people in the communities in new ways. She also has an interest in a young man in Resolve that she met while visiting with Pat, and is curious as to whether this is worth exploring. 

This book is slow-moving, and the various plots developed through the slow realization of the main characters around feelings and realizations. 

A Death at Seascape House

Finished August 13

A Death at Seascape House (Jemima Jago Mystery, #1) by Emma Jameson

This is an intriguing mystery set in the Isles of Scilly off the Cornish coast in southwest England. It is part of a series featuring special collections librarian Jemima Jago. As the book opens, Jemima (Jem) has returned to the Isles to do a special project regarding a private collection of books on the island. Jem hasn't been to the Isles since she left after her grandmother's death when she was a teenager. That loss occurred shortly after another tragedy that we gradually learn about through the course of the novel. 

Jem is waiting to meet a friend at a pub, but her friend Pauley is late, and she subsequently engages in a new friendship with the bartender Micki. 

Pauley is also the owner of the large collection that Jem will be cataloguing, and has recently told Jem that one of the unique books in the collection has gone missing. When she finds out that the main suspect is Edith a woman who she hated back when she was a kid, she decides to go to Edith's house to try to recover the book. Instead she finds a crime scene, with Edith dead and the place ransacked. With the chief of police prejudiced against her, Jem must try to find the true culprit of the crime to clear her own name. 

As she encounters the locals, she must also deal with her own past there, and the tragedy that she was blamed for back then. 

I enjoyed the main character, as well as many of the supporting ones, from Micki and Pauley, to Jem's old boyfriend Rhys, and the new sergeant heading the local police force. 

This looks like it will be an interesting series. 

Late Checkout

Finished April 11

Late Checkout by Carol J. Perry

This mystery is the ninth in a series is set in Salem, Massachusetts, and this particular book is set in late October, early November. The main character, Lee Barrett, is a field reporter for the local television station, WICH-TV, but she's been downgraded to part-time temporarily while the station owner's nephew works at the station as a first step in his TV news career. 

Lee lives in an upstairs apartment in the home of her aunt Ibby, the director of the local library. She was widowed a few years ago after her NASCAR racing husband died. She is now going out with a local police detective, Pete Mondello. She and her aunt share their home with a very special cat O'Ryan who possesses some clairvoyant abilities. Lee herself also has some psychic abilities and sometimes has visions, usually ones that appear to her in a reflective surface such as a mirror. 

The station is celebrating its seventieth birthday soon, and Lee is put on the job of research for the event, and research is something she loves, and often gets her aunt involved in too. Since Lee has some time on her hands, she also decides to volunteer at the library, but on her first shift she finds a dead body and gets involved in a case that may threaten her personally. 

The scene of death is reminiscent of the death scene of one of the station's old sports announcers, and also is similar to a recent break-in at someone's home. As Lee tries to figure out if the death's are linked and whether the different figures are related to other people at the station now or in the past, she finds herself with research that overlaps the work she is doing for the station's event, as well as introducing her to the world of sports collectibles.

We get to meet many of the station's other personalities, from the receptionist to the camera crew, as well as past personalities. Lee's visions are interesting because she doesn't know whether they are of the past or the future until she can figure them out. I would definitely read more of this series. 

The Cats Came Back

Finished April 4

The Cats Came Back by Sofie Kelly

This is the tenth book in the series. I read the ninth book A Tale of Two Kitties a few years ago and really enjoyed it. The books are set in the small town of Maryville Heights, Minnesota. The town is gearing up for a summer music festival and Kathleen, the local librarian, is looking forward to it. Her cats, Owen and Hercules, are having pictures taken at various locations around town for a fund-raising calendar.

One of the singers in town for the festival, Emme Finlay, a cabaret singer, once sang in a stage musical with Kathleen's mother, and Kathleen is pleased to meet her. Along with Emme are her friend and assistant Miranda Moore and her older sister Nora who also is involved with her career. Emme is thinking about going back to school to gain some skills she wants to further her career, such as learning French, and has had a recent boyfriend with a bit of a rough background. A picture of the two of them drunk in a bar has recently gone viral, causing issues for Emme. So when a body wearing Emme's clothes turns up, there are a lot of questions to ask and not a lot of answers.

There is a side story around an upcoming marriage of one of Kathleen's friends. Both the bride and groom were married previously and have children from those marriages. Their ceremony is planned for their home, which is part of the property where Kathleen's cats, previously feral, are from, and there is still a large cat colony there. 

I liked the music aspect of this mystery, and the scenes around both Kathleen's cats and the feral cat colony. This is a small community with a lot of people who care about each other, and the music community is similar in both people supporting each other and the many connections. 

I enjoyed learning more about Kathleen and her family here as well.

Great read. 

Twelve Angry Librarians

Finished April 2

Twelve Angry Librarians by Miranda James

This is the eighth book in the A Cat in the Stacks series which features librarian Charlie Harris and his Maine coon cat Diesel. I've previously read the fourth book in the series Out of Circulation and the fifth book, The Silence of the Library. 

The books are set in the small town of Athens, Mississippi, and here Charlie has been working as the interim director of the Athena College library. Normally he works in archives and rare books, and he had a career in the public library in Houston. Charlie returned to Athens after the death of his wife, and both of his children live and work nearby. 

As the book opens, it is a few days before the Southern Academic Libraries Association conference which the college is hosting, and Charlie is learning that he will have to make a short speech at the opening ceremony. He is dismayed to find out that the keynote speaker, Gavin Fong, is a man he can't stand, a man he went to library school with, and had a run-in with back then. He is even more dismayed to find out Gavin has applied for the library director position. 

As Charlie looks up what Gavin has been up to since they last me, he finds a pattern of short-term positions. When he sees that a couple of papers cited have other library school friends as co-authors, he decides to contact them to see if they are coming to the conference and if they have any more information on Gavin. 

At the conference Charlie finds out there are a lot of people who don't like Gavin, so when Gavin dies suddenly many people come under scrutiny, including Charlie. 

Diesel shows up often in the story, as Charlie takes him most of the places he goes, including to work, and out in public Diesel is usually on a leash. Diesel serves as a sounding board for Charlie when he thinks out loud, and sometimes inspires a useful idea.

This is an enjoyable series and I like the library content that is included. Gavin makes for an easy character to dislike, and the investigation is one that leads in interesting directions. 

The Silence of the Library

Finished October 4

The Silence of the Library by Miranda James

This is the fifth book in the "Cat in the Stacks" series featuring retired librarian Charlie Harris. Charlie is a widower and lives with his two adult children, Sean and Laura; a boarder; and his beloved Maine coon cat Diesel in Athena, Mississippi. Diesel goes almost everywhere with Charlie, and most people are familiar with him. Charlie is close friends with the library director and seems to give her advice and help with events as well as volunteer at the service desk on a regular basis. 

They have an upcoming event planned that is focused on classic children's and youth mystery series like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. One of the series is Veronica Thane and as the book opens they find out that the author is still alive, even though she is over a hundred. She also lives fairly locally, so plans begin to visit her and see if she might be willing to make an appearance at the event. 

Charlie grew up with these books, after being introduced to them by his favourite aunt. 

When word begins to leak out about the author, some of her most ardent fans show up, and when someone associated ends up dead, things start to get worrisome for the library and Charlie. 

This is a cosy series I hadn't come across before, and I found it didn't grab me as much as others. Charlie's role with the library was vague and for a small town, it was surprising how many people seemed to be unfamiliar with library staff and the other main players. 

The plot was interesting in some ways, and I did like how the old series books played a role in figuring out what was going on. 

The Paris Librarian

Finished October 7

The Paris Librarian by Mark Pryor

Having recently read The Paris Library, and noticing this on one of my shelves, I pulled it out. This story is also set around the American Library in Paris, but in the modern day. It is part of a mystery series featuring Hugo Marston, the head of security for the American embassy in Paris. His roommate Tom is in the FBI, and they are both single.

One acquaintance of Hugo's is Paul Rogers, the director of the American Library.  Hugo has a friend whose friend is doing research on an aging actress who is said to have been active in espionage during World War II, and the American Library has recently obtained her papers. Paul is working on a novel and Hugo arranges to meet with his late one morning to discuss both, but he finds Paul in a locked room in the basement, dead. It seems like a natural death, but something about it bothers Hugo. 

When another death happens soon after, more questions arise.

Hugo has a contact in the French police and brings her into the case early, before it is even established that a crime has occurred and that helps them gather information that otherwise might have been lost. 

One aspect of this case that intrigues Hugo is a death in the past, long before, that has an interesting connection to Paul. 

I enjoyed the character of Hugo, with both his professional knowledge and instincts and his personal life. The various staff at the American Library are minor characters here, but still somewhat interesting. The library is in many ways just a backdrop for the larger story. 

The Paris Library

Finished October 5

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

This novel has two timelines, one in Paris starting in 1939 and going until 1944 and the other in small town Montana starting in 1983 and going until 1989. The link between the two is Odile, a French woman who married an American just after the war and settled in the town, Froid, in Montana. 

In Paris, Odile is interviewed and gets a job at the American Library, a place she is in awe of and has aimed to work at for years. We see Odile as well as the other staff at the library over this time period, getting to know the situations and some of the personalities.

Odile's father is a high-ranking police officer who doesn't understand Odile's need for a career and just wants to see her happily married, bringing home junior officers to Sunday dinner to try to make a match. Odile's twin brother Remy is interested in politics and trying to change the world. 

Odile makes friends with her coworkers as well as some of the regular staff, including a lonely wife of an American diplomat who becomes a volunteer at the library.

Odile is young and impulsive and at times her actions end in regret. We see how one of these actions compelled her to make her choice of an American husband and run from her life in Paris.

In the modern day story, teenage Lily is close to her mother Brenda, and finds herself unmoored when Brenda becomes ill. Lily has long been fascinated by Odile, a woman who has never really fit in in their town, and has recently called on her to find out more about her and Paris, using a school assignment as leverage. With Brenda's illness, Lily spends more time at her neighbour Odile's house and even begins to learn French from her. As we see Lily go through her high school years, dealing with the changes that happen in her family and the normal angst of growing up, we see how Odile is a positive influence in her life, guiding her in a way to learn from and avoid some of the mistakes that Odile herself made in her youth. 

This story is a sad one, although it has many joyful moments. Odile's choice to run from her life, cutting off all ties is one that to me is heart-wrenching, both for her and for those she left behind whose stories after that we don't know much of at all. There is so much they won't have understood about her never returning, and it seems like they may not have tried which is even sadder.

Lily's story is more hopeful, despite her own losses, partly because of Odile's influence in her life. 

This was an interesting story which compelled me and made me reflect. 

The Librarian of Saint-Malo

Finished September 13 

The Librarian of Saint-Malo by Mario Escobar, translated by Gretchen Abernathy

Set during the Second World War, the book is focused on Jocelyn Ferrec who has recently been hired to run the town library. But she has bad luck. After getting engaged to be married, she has contracted tuberculosis and her health is affected. She gets married anyway, but her wedding day is the day that Germany invades Poland, and war will eventually come to her as well. 

Jocelyn tells her tale through letters to a famous French author that she admires, Marcel Dumas, and sends them to him by private courier when she can manage it. Somehow this makes her feel better even when her situation is dire.

From German occupation to threats against her person and the books she cares so much about, Jocelyn must fight where she can, take action where she can do so, and try to hide the books she fears will be destroyed or plundered. 

Besides Jocelyn, there is Celine, the librarian that Jocelyn took over from, her bookseller friend Denis, the local doctor and other neighbours. Some seem eager to cooperate with the Germans, others find ways to make trouble for them. Jocelyn, while she believes strongly in the power of books, doesn't believe that her friends lives are worth more than them. 

This was an interesting premise of a story, but it didn't grab me like I expected. Thinking about it, I found that it had action and drama, with the characters displaying lots of emotion, but it lacked depth. The ease of movement of some of the characters seemed unlikely, and many things weren't explained very well. I think there are many better books about this time period in the genre.