October Reading List

I have to say I loved “The Book of Lost Names” by Kristin Harmel. I adore a good historical fiction, and this one really brought the characters and setting to life. Here’s a bit of the synopsis from the back: “Eva Traube Abrams, a semi-retired librarian in Florida, is shelving books when her eyes lock on a photograph in the New York Times. She freezes; it’s an image of a book she hasn’t seen in more than sixty years–a book she recognizes as The Book of Lost Names.” Decades earlier, Eva was a young Jewish woman in Paris trying to escape the Nazi invasion; she ends up as a part of a forgery ring in a small rural town in France using her artistic talent to forge documents that save hundreds of Jewish children fleeing to Switzerland. Eva was a fascinating and very self-less character surrounded by other intriguing characters in the story; it kept my interest throughout, and the ending was magnificent.

I listened to “Bookish People” on audiobook, starting on a trip to a family member’s baby shower in September and continuing the audiobook on my commute to work at the start of the month. The blurb on the back of the book is as follows: “Independent bookstore owner Sophie Bernstein is burned out on books. Mourning the death of her husband, the loss of her favorite manager, her only child’s lack of aspiration, and the grim state of the world, she fantasizes about going into hiding in the secret back room of her store.” I think it sounds a little bleak, but the reviews promised hilarity, and they did not disappoint. I found myself laughing aloud quite a few times at all the quirky characters who are a part of this bookshop. I definitely recommend “Bookish People” to anyone interested in reading something more character driven and lighthearted.