I was initially bored with the descriptions of stylish clothing worn by the "beautiful girl" sisters — 21-year-old Pearl and 18-year-old May. However, as I persisted listening to the CD of Shanghai Girls by Lisa See, I became totally immersed in the imagery of the sights and sounds of 1930s Shanghai. The sisters were somewhat "modern" Chinese girls, living with traditional parents, while hiding their modeling job for a local commercial artist. The two also enjoyed late night dining and entertainment.

Here is what Pearl said about her relationship with her younger sister May: "Whenever you have two sisters – or siblings of any number or either sex – comparisons are made. May and I were born in Yin Bo Village, less than a half day’s walk from Canton. We’re only three years apart, but we couldn’t be more different. She’s funny; I’m criticized for being too somber. She’s tiny and has an adorable fleshiness to her; I’m tall and thin. May, who just graduated from high school, has no interest in reading anything beyond the gossip columns; I graduated from college five weeks ago. "

When their father’s financial circumstances decline, Pearl and May are shocked and dismayed to learn that he has arranged marriages for them in exchange for monetary assistance. 

With the onslaught of war, the family is torn apart and nothing is ever the same again. Pearl and May discover troubling family secrets, lies, and betrayals as they face the harsh realities of coming-of-age in a war-torn world.  Eventually they both endure the often tedious, humiliating immigration process into the United States via Angel Island — only to face even more difficult challenges in a new country.

The bonds of love, friendship, and sibling rivalry were brilliantly exposed in Shanghai Girls. Share this gem with your sisters! Chock-full of universal themes worth discussing, I would recommend See’s engaging, thought-provoking novel for most book clubs. 

Elaine Johnson – Central Library

My Father’s Roses: A Family’s Journey from World War I to Treblinka by Nancy Kohner is a tricky little book to quantify. It’s part journal, part family letters, and part reminiscences.

The author spent years organizing and annotating the boxes of family papers and photos she discovered after her father’s death. She hired a translator to help with language and handwriting for some of the older documents, among the more than 40 years worth of correspondence from her father’s and grandparents’ generations. The book’s chapters alternate between letters and the author’s thoughts and memories of her childhood.

Kohner’s father was born the youngest of three children in a Jewish family in a German-speaking region of what is now the Czech Republic. The letters recount the family’s mundane life of owning a shop, tending their garden, educating the children, and surviving both World War I and its repercussions. Eventually Kohner’s father and other family members escaped to England, but (as the title warns) many others died during the Holocaust.

This book is most simply a labor of love — to remember the author’s beloved father, the family she never knew, and her Jewish heritage. In a final awful irony and as her daughter writes in the book’s prologue, the author died of cancer before the book was published. It’s a quiet book. Full of daily life and terrible moments, My Father’s Roses will stick with me for a long time.

Kristen Blount – Administration Office

Everyone knows that World War II was big, but not too many people grasp what this particular use of the word "big" really means. The Greatest Battle gives a reader the beginnings of a notion. 

This book is an account of the Battle for Moscow, fought between the Germans and the Russians during the winter of 1941-42. During six months of bitter fighting, a total of 2.5 million men (more than 600,000 Germans, nearly 1.9 million Russians) were killed, wounded, or captured. It was, Andrew Nagorski claims, the most important battle of the Second World War because outside Moscow, for the first time, and despite horrific Russian losses, Hitler’s armies were stopped in their tracks. 

The book’s broad scope covers diplomatic maneuverings, espionage, the German view of events, etc., in addition to the fighting. More than anything, though, The Greatest Battle is a window into the workings of Stalin and his regime. The view is horrifying. 

Balancing the evil inflicted by Stalin against the crimes of Hitler is kind of pointless. The crimes of each are so far beyond the imaginings of most common mortals that they tend to be as bewildering as they are horrifying. Stalin was lucky, though. Being on the winning side, much of what he did managed to get overlooked. To this day, there are surprising numbers of people who ignore his crimes and celebrate his supposedly determined and competent leadership during the Second World War.   

Actually, there’s less to celebrate than many would think.

As Nagorski makes plain, Stalin seemed more paralyzed than determined at the outset of the war with Germany. As for competence, his military ineptitude was so vast that it resulted in the collapse and even surrender of Russian armies numbering hundreds of thousands of men. Yet, during and after the war, the millions of men lost to German captivity as a result of Stalin’s lack of capability were punished as traitors by the very man whose own shortcomings caused them to fall into the hands of the enemy.

For many reasons, but particularly because of what it tells the reader about Stalin’s regime at war, The Greatest Battle is an utterly fascinating book, also available on CD. You can only feel sorry that the people of Russia had to fight under such a leader. 
 
Joe McHugh – Administration Office

Sarah Waters‘ The Little Stranger combines the intricate social class structure of post World War II Britain with elements of the unknown — the resulting effect is unsettling for the once-wealthy Ayres family. If you can imagine a cross between Wuthering Heights and Emma, as told by Alfred Hitchcock, you can grasp the experience of reading The Little Stranger. One thing you don’t have to fear, however, is the length of this novel; it is a well-written page-turner.

The Little Stranger is narrated by Dr. Faraday, who has risen above his class, complicating both his personal and professional lives. By coincidence Faraday is called to Hundreds Hall, the once magnificent home to the Ayres family. As he treats Roderick Ayres, who has not escaped the war unscathed either mentally or physically, the Ayres learn that this is not Faraday’s first visit to their home. His mother was formerly a maid in the mansion, a place he so coveted as a child that he broke off a piece of ornamental plaster to keep.

Dr. Faraday’s life becomes increasingly entwined with Roderick, the "spinster" Caroline, their mother, and Hundreds Hall — now a shadow of its former glory. Strange things begin to occur at Hundreds Hall, convincing the family that they may not be its only residents.

I confess that I am not a fan of the ambiguous ending, but in the case of The Little Stranger, Waters provides enough clues that I spent an evening re-tracing my steps to solve the mystery. I hope that you enjoy the book enough to do the same.

Andrea Misner – Administration

What do English spies and the author of the children’s classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory have in common? Everything, I found out as I listened to The Irregulars in Playaway format. (For anyone who hasn’t tried these clever new devices, Playaways are small digital audiobooks that are highly portable, for convenient listening while walking or traveling.)

Not only did Roald Dahl write children’s books (James and the Giant Peach is another), he was also a member of a select group of Brits who moved among the Georgetown social set to both influence American policy toward increased support of the British war effort and gather information about isolationists in the U.S. Arriving in Washington in 1942, Dahl, a former RAF pilot who (because of injuries), was assigned as an Air Attache to the British Embassy. Among his fellow intelligence operatives were Ian Fleming, later the creator of James Bond, and David Ogilvy, who was to become an advertising legend. They called themselves “The Irregulars” after “The Baker Street Irregulars,” a group of amateurs aiding Sherlock Holmes.

Having always heard of the legendary Evelyn Walsh McLean, owner of the Hope Diamond, I was particularly fascinated by the episodes in this work describing dinners at her mansion. The table flatware was gold; the dashing Dahl (who was 6’6”) sported his RAF uniform; and McLean, wearing her Civil Air Warden uniform with the famous diamond underneath, let dinner guests, including young soldiers, pass the gem around for a close-up view.

I love the historical accuracy in this fast-paced work that reads like fiction. The Irregulars mentions celebrities, including columnist Drew Pearson, Congresswoman Clare Booth Luce, and even a young Texas Congressman Lyndon B. Johnson, a protege of then power broker and House Speaker Sam Rayburn. The young Roald Dahl (age 26) met them all as he used his skills at the bridge table and the cocktail hour to become a welcome guest on the social circuit. Dahl reported to William Stephenson, the head of British espionage who is said to have been the model for the James Bond novels (penned later by Ian Fleming).

The Library owns this work in several formats, but you may want to try a Playaway. Every branch has a selection of titles; just add your own AAA battery and headphones, or purchase some at the Checkout Desk, and “play away.”

Jean Salkeld – Administration

The first line of Beside a Burning Sea immediately pulls in the reader — “Ten minutes before a torpedo sliced through the sea and slammed into steel, most everything was normal aboard the hospital ship Benevolence.”

Thus begins a suspenseful WWII tale as nine very different people are thrown together on a small deserted island in the Solomons after their ship sinks. Coincidentally the island also happens to be a strategically desirable spot for the Japanese military. What follows in the next eighteen days is a tale of love, war, prejudice, deception, and survival.

Using fluid, lyrical prose throughout, author John Shors devotes a chapter to each day and initiates each chapter with a haiku. Day two begins:
Waves march like soldiers,
To bleed upon sun-bleached shores.
I long for old moss.

Beside a Burning Sea held my attention and I read it fairly quickly, all the while thinking which actor I would cast for each character — this is a novel with the requisite ingredients for a fast-paced movie! Adventure, suspense, romance, and interesting characters…what more could you ask for?

Eve Olsen – Central Library

"HERE IS A SMALL FACT
You are going to die.
…REACTION TO THE
AFOREMENTIONED FACT
Does this worry you?
I urge you – don’t be afraid.
I’m nothing if not fair."

And so begins The Book Thief, narrated by Death himself, with a voice which is alternately simplistic, complex, detached, compassionate, and witty. Throughout the novel, Death provides us with insight on the human condition, sprinkled with factoids and snippets from his travels.

The reader is introduced (by Death) to Liesel Meminger, a young girl forced to live with foster parents shortly after witnessing the death of her brother. Ironically, Liesel arrives at her new home with few possessions besides a copy of "The Gravedigger’s Handbook," which she takes unnoticed – unnoticed, except by Death — from her brother’s graveside. Liesel learns to read by using this dubious keepsake, an item also calming to her after recurrent nightmares of her brother’s death.

Unknowingly with Death at her side, Liesel grows up in World War II Germany. She adjusts to life with her abrasive foster mother and nurturing foster father as they secretly house Max, a Jew who will leave behind a remarkable gift. Fed by her love of reading in a world where books are not always valued, Liesel continues to steal titles, with the help of her best friend Rudy and the Mayor’s wife.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is one of those rare stories that you hate to finish and whose characters remain a part of your life. Don’t let its length or the fact that it is classified as Young Adult dissuade you; The Book Thief is a page-turning, thought-provoking read, told in a fresh voice. I envy your journey.

Andrea Misner – Administration Office

While Max Hastings’ Retribution focuses on Asia and Armageddon on Europe, together these grim but fascinating books examine the last year of World War II.

Both books share a trait typical of many earlier World War II histories, since a fair amount of the material in each comes from the author’s personal interviews with surviving participants. However, at this point, this "typical trait" is actually sort of unique. After all, 1945 is now sixty-three years in the past and interviewees are a dying breed. So it seems very likely that Retribution and Armageddon may be the last major accounts of the Second World War where some portions, at least, are based on the direct verbal accounts of survivors.

Besides good writing there’s something else about Max Hastings’ accounts of the last year of the war that make them special. Historians tend to write what the available sources allow them to write. Since 1945, this means that the scope of most of the English language histories of the events of the 1940s have focused on the experiences of Americans, Englishmen, Germans, and Japanese. These two books signal an enormous change in writing about the war as Hastings expands our perspective to a broader view.

There are plenty of pages in both volumes that focus on Americans and the other "usual suspects." However, while Retribution does not slight the Pacific battles fought between the Americans and the Japanese, what makes it particularly interesting are the accounts of the campaigns on the mainland of Asia and the involvement of Indians, Chinese and, even Africans. The depressing tale of Australia and its army in the last year of the war, as well as the pages devoted to the Russian invasion of Manchuria, provide some absorbing reading. Armageddon gives good coverage of the fighting on the Western Front while also informing the reader about people and events in Eastern Europe.

After more than half a century of books on the Second World War, it’s got to be hard for an author to come up with a history that covers the war in a new and different way. With Retribution and Armageddon, Max Hastings has come up with two of them.

Joe McHugh – Administration Office