The Paris Library

 

Janet Skeslien Charles' historical fiction, The Paris Library, is told is dual timelines. What I'd consider the main story is set in France during World War II. The other story is about young Lily, living in rural Montana, yearning to be a part of the bigger world. She's intrigued by her very private French next door neighbor and wants to learn more about her story.

Oriel had always loved books and longed to be a librarian for as long as she could remember. In the late 1930s, she's lucky enough to get a position in the American Library in Paris. Readers - and especially library lovers - will love this aspect of the novel. I know that part of the story.

What made this novel most compelling is that several of the characters were actual people who managed to keep the library open during the war. The library was an important gathering place and a place where friendships were developed. The head librarian created "The Soldier's Service" to provide serviceman with books to read during the war. It reminded me of the Kentucky Packhorse Library but during a war.

The relationships in the book developed in a natural, authentic way, ebbing and flowing the way relationships do in real life. Sometimes we recognize how much we can count on our friends and what it takes us to be good friends to them. Other times, they disappoint us and we, purposely or inadvertently, disappoint them.

The novel is about "r" esistance during the way. And yes, the fact that there's a lowercase "r" is important. This is not a story about The Resistance. I'd highly recommend it to those who recognize the importance of libraries and books.

Bookends: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Literature

Perhaps if I was familiar with Zibby Owens' podcasts, I might have appreciated Bookends: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Literature a little bit more than I did.

I thought this was going to be a story about how books helped "save" Zibby during times of turmoil in her life. That wasn't the case. She'd write about a difficult time and would sprinkle in the titles of the books she'd read at the time. So was it the act of keeping distracted by reading that helped her out? She never really said. I know that's true for me.

Owens has lived a very entitled life and while she did express appreciation for all that she is, I found it irritating that her podcast and other essays are framed as "Moms Don't Have Time to..."™️ What does she really know about the struggle that moms who don't come from rich parents... or don't have a good education allowing them to have many choices... or don't have full-time help... or don't have a mother with her own full-time help living nearby... or... I can go on and on.

I also understand that Owens wishes to maintain the privacy of her ex-husband and her children, but it's like her four kids came to be through immaculate conception. She briefly noted, while talking about a difficult time, that "in the meantime I'd gotten married" but no mention after that of her marrriage. At all. Then, all of a sudden she's lusting after her tennis pro. It took a while for me to understand that she was no longer married. She also only briefly mentioned the agony of shared custody. Clearly, though, her ex-husband (or someone) had the kids quite regularly and for longer than a quick overnight since she and her new husband, Kyle, were able to jet off to Los Angeles or Europe or wherever it was they were jetting off to. 

I was a single mother. I know what that's like. Yet my single mother story was nothing like hers. And I truly didn't have time to read for the time period when I was working full-time, going to school at night, and doing most of the parenting on my own. After that, once I started reading again, I was the person friends would come to when they wanted book recommendations. I was still working full-time, still doing the bulk of parenting on my own, and no way would I have had time to become an influencer. Not that that was really a thing in the late 90s.

Her losses were pretty tragic and that's why I hold back on criticizing the book too much. I can't even imagine walking in her shoes as she lost friend after friend to tragic deaths. At one point, shortly after she lost a very close friend on 9/11, she drafted a novel about losing a friend on 9/11. An agent told her it was too soon for people to read novels about 9/11. Couldn't she switch up the story so her friend died in a car crash? Because I am a person who tries to make sense of things through reading, I would have appreciated a 9/11 book shortly after 9/11. I'm sorry she never wrote that book.

What I did like was Owens conversational tone. No doubt it works quite well for essays and on her podcast. I also enjoyed reading about Owens experience with Weight Watchers.

I only gave this memoir 2 stars on Goodreads. I think had I not had the preconceived notion that I was going to learn about what type of books helped her through different types of crises, if I didn't think she omitted personal information that might have helped give me context, I might have enjoyed the book a little bit more.

 

No concentration for reading

Reading is my comfort. My escape from the real world. Until it's not...

During the wait for Hurricane Irma to arrive, I never even thought to pick up a book. We had power... and I wasn't sure for how long. I figured I'd stay glued to the TV as long as I could. Plus, I'm still reading Beloved on my iPad which I'm kind of struggling with. (The language makes reading slow and the content is brutal so I can only read in small doses.) Didn't want to waste iPad power if we were going to lose power eventually. (We never did lose power.) Additionally, I had too much nervous energy so when I wasn't just sitting on my chair staring at the TV, I was going around the house tweaking our pre-storm preparations.

We certainly dodged a bullet. We never lost power. Never lost water. Only had minor damage in our yard.

Hurricane Irma came ashore for the second time on Marco Island as a Category 4 storm. And it was heading straight towards us. Was downgraded to a 3, still heading straight towards us. Then it jogged a little to the east and was expected to be downgraded to a Category 2. Then it turned west again, heading straight towards us. It was still being categorized as a Category 2... but came in over us with wind gusts in the Cat 1 range. All along, our local meteorologist was saying categories don't matter. That Irma is a big bad storm.

The wind and rain were battering last night. I couldn't sleep... nor could I read. Exhausted today, with warnings to stay off the road and too exhausted to undo my hurricane prep, I managed to lie down for a nap, still couldn't sleep but was able to read.

Two more storms are in the Atlantic. Hurricane Jose looks a little like he doesn't know what he's doing. And Lee... you don't really want to be a hurricane, do you? I just want to be able to read in peace!

I had a dream the other night

The dream I had the other night is still very vivid in my mind. I had a dream within the dream, too.  I'm not one to interpret dreams and I'm not sure where to go with this.

You're probably wondering what me having a dream the other night has to do with reading, aren't you?

Before I retired from teaching, I started writing the draft of a middle grade chapter book. I finished it within 9 months of being retired. I had a few people critique it. Adults seemed to like it better than kids. I did revisions. Kids liked the revised version better.

At about the same time that I finished that draft, my youngest daughter needed to write a picture book for school project. I won't say I did the whole project for her... but I came up with the idea of the book, edited her draft and then proudly displayed the finished product on my coffee table. Until my daughter took it away. While the book was still in my possession, I read the guidelines for middle grade picture books and I revised the text to match the guidelines. If I (we?) were ever to attempt to publish the book, we might have a hard time. The audience for a middle grade picture book about the Spanish-American War is probably very limited. I don't think I've ever heard of a 3rd, 4th or 5th grade social studies curriculum including anything about the Spanish-American War.

I started doing research to see how to go about getting either of my books published, but then I had all sorts of family stuff going on and I realized that I didn't have the stick-with-it-ness to publish a book at that time.

What does this have to do with my dream from the other night?

I dreamed that I was sitting at my desk. I'd just shut down my computer and had a sudden urge to write another book. In my dream, I turned on my computer, preparing to sit down and write. Then, in a dream within my dream, I had visions of my main character. She was a single woman. Something tragic had just happened in her life. She was living alone in a walk-up apartment. While she went to the bathroom, someone walked into her apartment and knocked on her bathroom door. When she opened the bathroom door, there stood a woman holding an older baby. Perhaps it was a neighbor?

The dream was so vivid when I woke up. It was so vivid later that day. It's still vivid a few days later.

Do I want to be the type of author who keeps writing drafts of books and stuffing them in drawers? Do I want to be a published author? (Of course. Who wouldn't?) The big question remains. Once the writing is done, because I have no doubt I have several more drafts for several more books inside me, do I want to put in the hard work to get a book published? That's the part of all this that I'm just not sure about.

Do all readers yearn to write?