Books Books Books

I have been having a hard time finding time to read, and when I do, 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, set in England.  It begins at the start of WWII, when the two sisters in this book relocate to the English countryside to escape the bombs in London. Tragedy strikes, and one of the sisters goes missing.  The story then moves into the 1960s, and the remaining sister is now a book curator; however, she has not forgotten her sister.  She comes across a book whose storyline makes her wonder whether her sister is still alive.  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. While, at times, a little crude, it was fascinating because its subject was 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 the lives of working women and an immigrant 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 is a fictional story set in Belfast, 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 lives unfold.  The premise of this book is based on the real-life events of the Magdalen 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, Hell's Corner, which I am still reading, is a fictional spy/secret-service-type book.  It is 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 solve a case one last time.  The agent, having been burned by the agency, is initially reluctant to help, but his duty to his country overrides his hesitation, and he helps despite his friends' protests, who fear he will get hurt or burned in the process.  This is not my typical reading genre, but occasionally I enjoy a good whodunit. David Baldacci is a good writer; 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.