Books Books Books

 

I have been finding it hard to find time to read, and when I do read, then nothing gets done because the books usually suck me in, and I can't put them down.  The first book listed is The Secret Life of Flora Lea, which takes place in England.  It starts at the beginning of WWII the two sisters in this book are relocated to the English countryside to avoid the bombs in London. Tragedy strikes, and one of the sisters goes missing.  The story then forwards to the 1960s and the remaining sister has now moved on and is a book curator; however, she has not forgotten her sister.  She comes across a book that makes her wonder if her sister is still alive due to the book's storyline.  The storyline is very similar to a story she used to tell her sister as a child to help her fall asleep.  Is it possible her sister is still alive?

While fictional, the second book, The Dictionary of Lost Words, was based on the events surrounding the compilation of the Oxford Dictionary.  This was my favorite book. The book, at times, was a little crude, but at the same time, fascinating because the book's subject is lost words that primarily pertained to women and their lives.  Many of these words were not included in the dictionary.  

The Tiffany Girls, another fictional book, is based on the lives of the women who worked for the famous Tiffany glass artist Louis C. Tiffany.  The book begins in Paris but then quickly shifts to New York City.  The book explores working women's lives and an immigrant's life in the United States.  The author does borrow some of the names of true-life women and some of the timeline events surrounding the artist's life; however, as I said, the book is fictional.

Sisters of Belfast a fictional story is set in Northan, Ireland. During WWII, a bomb hits Belfast and kills the two sisters without their parents.  The girls are placed in the care of nuns and their life unfolds.  The premise of this book is based on the actual life events of the Magdalena Laundries.  If you haven't heard about the Magdalena Laundries, many exist throughout Ireland.  They were homes for girls who were pregnant, orphaned, or, in some cases, had mental disabilities.  Many of the girls who lived in these homes suffered abuse at the hands of the nuns.  I have either watched movies or read articles on these true-life events.  Sitting here, I wonder if there are books from the nun's perspective.  While there is never an excuse for abuse, it would still be interesting to see what role the catholic church played in what transpired, the local priest, and if any of the nuns have acknowledged their role in the treatment of those who lived with the nuns. 

The last book, Hells Corner, which I am still in the process of reading, is a fictional spy/secret service type book.  Purely entertainment, it is not based on actual life events. The story is about an ex-secret Service agent who is asked to come back to help the government one last time solve a case.  The agent, having been burned by the agency, is at first not so willing to help, but his duty to his country overrides, and he ends up helping despite the protest of his friends, who are afraid that he will get hurt or burned in the process.  This is not my typical reading genre, but occasionally, I enjoy a good who-done-it type book. David Baldacci is a good writer, and I have enjoyed his other books.

What are you currently reading?  Let me know!  I am compiling the books that I will be taking with me to Germany this summer.  I hope you have a great weekend.