I think in talking to other readers here we've pretty much established that borrowing books from the public library is a good thing--both for the reader and the library, so borrowing this new pile of library books is just doing my civic duty. No need to worry about the pile of books it is joining. Even if I don't get them all read, maybe one or two will catch someone else's eye. So this is sort of like a public service announcement.
It seems this is the WWII edition of library books as four of the five books have something to do with the war. It's funny how that works sometimes. There must be a Murphy's Law covering this phenomenon--perhaps a subset of 'no matter when you request library books they will always come in on the same day' rule. I should note that I finished both of the books I was concerned about (on time, thank you very much)--enjoyed them both in very different ways, and plan on writing about them over the weekend (I have lots of catching up to do next week--notice how I'm putting it off). Now, on to the goodies.
Sarah at Reading the Past recently wrote about Lynne Sheene's The Last Time I Saw Paris. On to the list it went and into my hot little hands it now sits. This is a story about an American woman who gets caught up in the French Resistance.
I was drawn initially to Margaret Leroy's The Soldier's Wife due to its setting on the island of Guernsey, which was occupied by the Germans in WWII. In this case a woman whose husband is fighting in France becomes involved with one of the German soldiers. I always assumed women who 'collaborated' (not sure that is the right word in this case?) with the enemy suffered strict penalties and a certain amount of humiliation for having done so. I'm very curious how this situation is handled in this story.
To be honest Evelyn Toynton's The Oriental Wife sounds a little bleak. If it is one I read, I'm already prepared for it to be a sad story. Two Jewish children find new lives in America after fleeing Hitler's Germany, eventually meet and fall in love only to have their lives shattered once again by tragedy.
Now for something a little different. I've been reading M.J. Hyland's This is How. I like it very much and was curious about her earlier book, Carry Me Down, which was a recent Booker Prize contender. This is a story of truth and how we see the world (as told through the eyes of a child).
Pam Jenoff's The Things We Cherished is something of a mystery story. It has a contemporary setting but the central question of whether a man is guilty of war crimes reaches back into WWII.
Since I have finished not just one but two library books, I'm in the market for a new one to add to my reading pile. As usual I am spoiled for choice. Has anyone read any of these (or these)? I think I may be safe for a while as the rest of the books I'm in line for have loads of people already in line before me. Part of the fun of choosing is looking all the new books over and reading a page or two to see which one grabs me.