The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley - 8 hours, 50 minutes on Libby Audio

 This sequel to The War That Saved My Life was just fantastic! It brought me to tears twice. I grew to really care about each of these characters and how they grew and faced hardship with such courage. A very good listen! Lots of great life lessons, and especially about how easy we have it, not being in war time. Their lives of constant death, worry, fear, loss, rationing, etc., was so hard, yet it was faced with such matter of factness...truly courageous and lovable people. 

Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster - 4 hours, 18 minutes via Libby Audio Books

 This was a pure delight! The Ridgeview Ward book club is discussing this book tomorrow night, so I listened to it yesterday and today to get it done. Every minute was enjoyable, witty, and fun. And it reminded me about how the structures of the early 20th century, like women's colleges, were really good in lots of ways. It also reminded me of the excitement of being in college, of learning new things, and the fun and closeness of roommates. Just delightful. I have read this before, but somehow I lost the book. I think Sally Palmer gave me a copy, with sweet illustrations, but I must have lent it to someone because I haven't seen it in years. And I would have never parted with it again. What a treat it was to listen to it as I cleaned our new Monterey home, and sat and listened as I watched the golf course. Just a sweet and fun experience. 

Good, clean story with clever humor and solid character development. Jerusha definitely matures over the four years of the span of the story. Even her writing and vocabulary grow over time. Just love it. 

The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley - 8 hours 52 minutes Libby Audiobook

 This book was brought up in our Ridgeview Ward book club as Karen Western's favorite book. Several women agreed it was really good, so I put in a request for it on Libby. It finally arrived, and they were right--it's really a good and inspiring and moving story.

The heartless mother is hard to believe, but I suppose they exist. As Ada and Jaimie leave their toxic London environment, it's interesting and instructive to read Ada's inner thoughts as she gradually confronts and tries to heal from her trauma. Susan, their literal savior, is a grieving woman who intuitively learns how to be a mother and healer. Their story, against the backdrop of World War 2 is colorful and entertaining and well-told. It's inspiring to read how Ada's thoughts gradually change and she matures into a courageous and admirable person. It's hard to fathom the hardships these people endured, but their spirits kept them going.

I especially admired Susan's resourcefulness in wrapping Ada up tight in a blanket to soothe her anxiety. It was also good to read about her abilities to sew, cook, and garden, and to help the children grow and learn. The village people were supportive, too, as Ada became a hero and spotted a German spy. All good, all unexpected, and admirable. It was a perfect read as I walked around my new neighborhoods in Stonebridge on warm late spring days!

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson

 I picked up this paperback at Deseret Industries and I enjoyed almost every page. Bryson waxes long on environmental issues, which is mostly interesting, but sometimes I was anxious to get back to his hike with Katz. I am a big fan of hiking stories, and this one filled the bill. Katz is a funny foil to funny, but more droll Bryson. I'm recovering from my hemi-lamenectomy, so it was fun to dream about hiking again. and I wondered, not for the first time, do I want to plan a trip to the AT and do some section hiking, or do I just want to read about it?

I think both! I wonder if I could put together an itinerary that would work...would I want to go solo? this July will be good practice if I can figure out a way to stay near Yosemite and do a little section hiking of the John Muir Trail. A good test of my research skills!

At any rate, this author is (mostly) clean, with a few colorful expletives, mostly from his hiking companion, Katz. I liked the way they were flexible, too, and didn't insist on doing parts of the trail they deemed beyond their skills. Yet they had plenty of challenges. I wonder if I could carry a heavy pack? No, I'm definitely more of a section hiker with a car full of my stuff at the end of each day...I don't mind missing the trail experiences at the shelters and campgrounds. They sound too uncomfortable! I wonder, who would like to do this with me? 

Bird Summons by Leila Aboulela

 This was another of my "pick up an interesting-looking random book" at the library choices. And I liked the title and the description on the back. I don't know much about Muslim women, and so this looked intriguing.

I enjoyed the beginning of the book and the premise of three very different Muslim immigrant women taking a road trip together, a pilgrimage almost, in England. They were planning to visit the shrine of one of their heroines, and this trip was way out of their comfort zone.

The way the three friends interacted and revealed customs of their different Muslim cultures was interesting and enlightening to me. Their various relationships that they discussed with each other revealed their more traditional and "women suppressive" experiences and attitudes. It was fascinating reading about their different challenges. And then...the author took a turn into fantasy, where a Hoopoe bird began talking to one of them, and it told story after story.

I'm sure these were allegorical, but often they left me clueless. And for most of the middle of the book, it was hard to tell what was fantasy and what was real. Again, these messages and experiences for each of the women had a spiritual moral message, but they were a little obscure. By the end of the book, I was back on board and understood a little better the growth each woman exhibited. So it was a satisfying ending, but not particularly enjoyable along the way. Just a little too weird for my taste. 

An Art Lover's Guide to Paris and Murder by Dianne Freeman

 I was browsing the Washington Library downtown and happened to see a bunch of books in this series, and they looked intriguing. Since I love Paris, I enjoy mysteries, and I love art, it seemed worth the risk! It was a cute little romp with some witty conversations and intrigue, but not enough for me to read any more of this. It worked to put me to sleep at night, so that's a good thing for my 3 AM wake ups... The main characters, Countess Harleigh and her husband, were fun and upbeat and indefatigable. Many of the others, though, were dark and villainous and not particularly interesting. It's too bad, because a lot of these are available... It's still worth the gamble, though, to try new authors. I will keep trying!

The Jane Austen Project bu Kathleen A. Flynn - on Libby audio - 11 hours

 This author, Kathleen A. Flynn, was chosen by Natalie Jenner, the author of The Jane Austen Society, to interview Natalie for an endpiece to her audio book. Jenner mentions in the interview that she chose Flynn because she so admired what she had accomplished in this book on Austen. That intrigued me, because I really enjoyed Jenner's book, and value her opinion. I'm not fond of fantasy or sci fi, so this was a stretch, but because it came so highly-recommended, I went for it.

It was a fascinating listen on many levels! The story begins in the future when two people are chosen and trained to travel back to Jane Austen's time. The few aspects of the future that are revealed are interesting and believable. The tension that's created with wondering if they'll be able to return to their own time after their research keeps the story lively. And the philosophical and ethical dilemmas abound! Like, how much are they interfering in the "probability field" that will change the outcome of history? Is it too much to help a poor chimney sweep's boy? Or to give medical care to Jane to prolong her life and thus enable her to write more?

In addition to these dilemmas, of course there is sexual tension between the two researchers, a man and a woman from the future, trying to fit in to Jane Austen's world and win her confidence. Those struggles are fascinating too. It's just fascinating in every regard, though it also felt a bit dark at times. I liked how Jane Austen and her brothers were portrayed, and it was fun to hear the researchers and Jane discuss some of her characters. There' is an abundance of information and dates about what was going on in Jane's life when, much more than I was aware of. It made me want to go walk the countryside around Chawton and see the places that feel almost familiar to me now. 

There are some rather graphic sex scenes, but not too much...And Flynn did an excellent job in capturing the tone of conversations from that time period. It was an expecially fun listen for 11 hours! It helped me prolong my walks around our new Monterey Drive neighborhood!

The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner

 I happened to find this on Libby and was excited to listen to it, when I found the paper copy at the Santa Clara Library. So, I mostly listened to this on audio, but then I took a little time to read in the book as well. The reader was British, and did such a good job that the paper seemed almost boring! It's a delightful, well-written book that feels like a movie or a play as you listen to it.

I was super impressed by the way the characters developed and the way Jenner describes their emotions and their interactions, especially GRIEF. There are lots of life lessons and wisdom here! This is set in the period just after the second world war, and England and America are recovering...and the characters reflect that reality. I especially liked steady Dr. Gray, and was shocked when his addiction was revealed. 

The characters were so likable, and you had the sense that everything was going to turn out all right, despite their challenges. This author is very like Austen in that way. And it was fun to be reminded of the many Austen characters as the characters in this novel discuss them! Very clever. In listening to the interview at the end of the audio book, the author mentions how much she admired The Jane Austen Project, and was interviewed by its author. So now I have another book to look forward to reading!

This was fun to listen to as I walked around our new neighborhood in Stonebridge and tried to recover from my hemi-lamenectomy surgery. I can walk further now, and it's fun to have such a good thing to listen to! It was also fun to learn about the earlier period of the same characters who appeared in Bloomsbury Girls, which I happened to read first, and really enjoyed. 

The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali

 In keeping with my new idea to pick up a library book that appeals to me by it's cover, this was my choice in Santa Clara last week. It was an interesting read and it had a beautiful cover!

I related to this story somewhat; since it dealt with intense, passionate, teen-age love that is lost, and only refound late in life. I remember those intense feelings with Leonard, when we were teenagers! However, in this story, this girl cannot move on. There are pages and pages of pain. Later, when she marries, has a child, and the child dies, there are more pages and pages of pain. Roya, the central character is a closed and immovable type of person and it's painful to read seemingly endlessly of her obsessions.

The parts of the book that I liked though, were her descriptions of her closeness with her sister and her parents, and how tied she is to her cooking and memories of Persian food. It made me want to try to eat some Persian food, which I don't believe I ever have. The spices and fragrances sound fantastic! Saffron, cardomom, and cinnamon, for example.

I also enjoyed the brief description of her life in the Bay Area and then Boston. Would I recommend this book? Not really. Too much sad obsessiveness. The plot was interesting with twists and turns, and Roya's husband, Walter, is an admirable character Otherwise, though, I would let it go... Move on!