ISBN: 9781492671527
Publisher's synopsis:
In 1936, tucked deep into the woods of Troublesome Creek, KY, lives blue-skinned 19-year-old Cussy Carter, the last living female of the rare Blue People ancestry.The lonely young Appalachian woman joins the historical Pack Horse Library Project of Kentucky and becomes a librarian, riding across slippery creek beds and up treacherous mountains on her faithful mule to deliver books and other reading material to the impoverished hill people of Eastern Kentucky.
Along her dangerous route, Cussy, known to the mountain folk as Bluet, confronts those suspicious of her damselfly-blue skin and the government's new book program. She befriends hardscrabble and complex fellow Kentuckians, and is fiercely determined to bring comfort and joy, instill literacy, and give to those who have nothing, a bookly respite, a fleeting retreat to faraway lands.
MrsK's Review:
In 1936, Kentucky, the book woman begins her deliveries on her mule. When riding through rough trails, on a mule, there isn't an opportunity to "call" someone when in need. Nor is there a safety "net" for stranger danger. Would you be willing to ride into the mountains just to deliver books?
Cussy Mary is 19. She enjoys the honor of delivering books to those who live around Troublesome Creek. She is committed to the need of literacy for those who dwell in the wilderness, Kentucky's "hill folk." She is "called" to the "grit" of hope that one day a library will bring educational inspiration into the minds and hearts of a new generation. She is one of the "Blue People" of Kentucky, those that are viewed as less than because of the color of their skin. Life's options are limited, yet living life is filled with possibilities. She values that the books she delivers "grows" the younger minds. So, she is willing to face whatever comes across her path!
Historical fiction, a genre that teaches the life lessons of those who have traveled the paths before us. This novel is woven with "heart-fulfilling hope." Characters speak true to their times. Settings are presented with the reality of the time. The storyline is "painfully" factual with reality, hardships, death, and determination to make life better one book at a time.
If you are ready to experience "determination" then begin this journey. Around the world, there have been and continue to be those who are committed to literacy. Some had mules, camels, boats, rafts, and skis. Endurance along the "roads" less traveled... is inspiring!
MrsK
Historical fiction...
thoughtfully crafted!
Meet the Author:
The NEW YORK TIMES, LOS ANGELES TIMES and USA TODAY bestselling author, Kim Michele Richardson is an multiple-award winning author and has written four works of historical fiction, and a bestselling memoir.Her latest critically acclaimed novel, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek has earned a 2020 PBS Readers Choice, 2019 LibraryReads Best Book, Indie Next, SIBA, Forbes Best Historical Novel, Book-A-Million Best Fiction, and is an Oprah's Buzziest Books pick and a Women’s National Book Association Great Group Reads selection. It was inspired by the real life, remarkable "blue people" of Kentucky, and the fierce, brave Packhorse Librarians who used the power of literacy to overcome bigotry and fear during the Great Depression. The novel is taught widely in high schools and college classrooms.
Her forthcoming fifth novel, The Book Woman’s Daughter is both a stand-alone and sequel to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek and will be published May 3, 2022. Born in Kentucky, Kim Michele lives with her family there and is the founder of Shy Rabbit.
ISBN: 9780764237164
Publisher's Synopsis:
Headstrong Johanna Berglund, a linguistics student at the University of Minnesota, has very definite plans for her future . . . plans that do not include returning to her hometown and the secrets and heartaches she left behind there. But the US Army wants her to work as a translator at a nearby camp for German POWs.Johanna arrives to find the once-sleepy town exploding with hostility. Most patriotic citizens want nothing to do with German soldiers laboring in their fields, and they're not afraid to criticize those who work at the camp as well. When Johanna describes the trouble to her friend Peter Ito, a language instructor at a school for military intelligence officers, he encourages her to give the town that rejected her a second chance.
As Johanna interacts with the men of the camp and censors their letters home, she begins to see the prisoners in a more sympathetic light. But advocating for better treatment makes her enemies in the community, especially when charismatic German spokesman Stefan Werner begins to show interest in Johanna and her work. The longer Johanna wages her home-front battle, the more the lines between compassion and treason become blurred--and it's no longer clear whom she can trust.
"How could it have come to this?"
MrsK's Review:
1944, Ironside Lake, Minnesota... a time of unrest, fear, doubts, and sacrifice. Have you heard that life sometimes brings a "turning point" in which everything you've planned gets delayed or taken out of your control? When your community is in need of a thread to hold on to? During WWII, a small town will experience the government's decision to open a German POW camp without consideration of their thoughts, feelings, or fears.
Johanna was in the process of completing her linguistic degree. She planned to meet the world head-on and to experience life through the language of commonality. No where, within her plans, did she expect a "called upon" government request. Nor, would she have expected her plans to be side-tracked by the government. Receiving the notification that she would be placed as a translator in a POW camp is not what one would choose. To be sent back to your hometown in the midst of their "unrest," as a camp translator, well how would the town accept this act of "un-patriotic" positioning?
With in a series of letters, we discover Johanna's realization that she is understanding the hearts of the enemies. Translating their letters to and from their home, their loved ones, leads to the commonality that she knows her town is experiencing with their sons interred in POW camps around Europe. How could she bring this truth to those within her town and help those behind the interment fences?
Once again, historical fiction brings an unknown truth into today's generation. It's hard to determine if growing up in the 60's, history was already being filtered and re-written, or if facts were shelved because of the "painful" life of war... all I can offer is this "shout-out" for historical fiction! To seek truth, to understand history, and to "hone" the person I'm becoming... historical fiction provides a path for self-exploration. An exploration that sharpens the awareness of compassion, acceptance, and profound hope. Ponder the state of our nation today... why are historical facts, perspectives, and life's struggles worth knowing? 2020 rolling into 2021... what should we have known? Who should have taught us? Why must we not forget? Our humanity is shaped... one way or another!
MrsK
Historical fiction...
Touching your heart...
with understanding commonalities...
instead of differences!
Meet the Author:
Amy Lynn Green is a publicist by day and a novelist on nights and weekends. History has always been one of her passions, and she loves speaking with book clubs, writing groups, and libraries all around the country. Her debut novel, Things We Didn't Say, received a starred review from both Booklist and Library Journal and was a finalist for the Minnesota Book Awards in genre fiction. Amy and her husband make their home in Minneapolis, Minnesota. You can sign up for her newsletter on her website, amygreenbooks.com, for quarterly giveaways, writing updates, and lots of bookish fun.
ISBN: 9780062999894
Publisher's Synopsis:
In the wake of a shocking tragedy, Natalie Harper inherits her mother’s charming but financially strapped bookshop in San Francisco. She also becomes caretaker for her ailing grandfather Andrew, her only living relative—not counting her scoundrel father.But the gruff, deeply kind Andrew has begun displaying signs of decline. Natalie thinks it’s best to move him to an assisted living facility to ensure the care he needs. To pay for it, she plans to close the bookstore and sell the derelict but valuable building on historic Perdita Street, which is in need of constant fixing. There’s only one problem–Grandpa Andrew owns the building and refuses to sell. Natalie adores her grandfather; she’ll do whatever it takes to make his final years happy. Besides, she loves the store and its books provide welcome solace for her overwhelming grief.
After she moves into the small studio apartment above the shop, Natalie carries out her grandfather’s request and hires contractor Peach Gallagher to do the necessary and ongoing repairs. His young daughter, Dorothy, also becomes a regular at the store, and she and Natalie begin reading together while Peach works.
"You're never alone when you're reading a book."
MrsK's Review:
How does life meet changes? Who would you be if you had to start over? Natalie has been thrown into an inherited bookshop, as well as becoming a care-giver for her grandfather. There is no time to adjust to the tragedy she experienced during her one moment of recognition.
Growing up in a book store can be fun. New titles arriving. New discoveries and journeys with every turn of the page. Yet, what about her life-wishes? The hope of a new job. A new life. What is unfolding is not part of her wish list! Once she gets everything taken care of, maybe then she can begin following her wish list. Or will she? With an edge of resentment, Natalie will discover that her new life is molded by the unexpected gift of a change in attitude and strangers that become family.
OK... so yes... this is a book lover's dream come true! I began with a quote that I've always used in my vacation books for my students. One of the cherished quotes from this book is crafted with every reader in mind: "Sometimes you have to let the right book find you."
Wonderfully crafted, as this story unfolds you will be touched by the joy of each book title/author that is shared. Woven within the story of the bookshop, her grandfather's story, and her mother's journey as a bookshop owner... you will hear the sounds of the radio music playing for the customers... you will smell the coffee and treats within the coffee shop... you will feel the joys, sorrows, and worries of the bookshop staff and customers. Most importantly you will visualize the "wonder" of discoveries hidden within the doors of the Lost and Found Bookshop.
Opening the door of the Lost and Found Bookshop...
Discovering an outing right at home!
*Read with a pencil and/or page flags*
Meet the Author:
Susan Wiggs's life is all about family, friends...and fiction. She lives at the water's edge on an island in Puget Sound, and she commutes to her writers' group in a 17-foot motorboat. She serves as author liaison for Field's End, a literary community on Bainbridge Island, Washington, bringing inspiration and instruction from the world's top authors to her seaside community. (See www.fieldsend.org) She's been featured in the national media, including NPR's "Talk of the Nation," and is a popular speaker locally and nationally. The author is a former teacher, a Harvard graduate, an avid hiker, an amateur photographer, a good skier and terrible golfer, yet her favorite form of exercise is curling up with a good book. 
ISBN: 9780807083697
Publisher's Synopsis:
The first science fiction written by a black woman, Kindred has become a cornerstone of black American literature. This combination of slave memoir, fantasy, and historical fiction is a novel of rich literary complexity. Having just celebrated her 26th birthday in 1976 California, Dana, an African-American woman, is suddenly and inexplicably wrenched through time into antebellum Maryland. After saving a drowning white boy there, she finds herself staring into the barrel of a shotgun and is transported back to the present just in time to save her life. During numerous such time-defying episodes with the same young man, she realizes the challenge she’s been given."Strength. Endurance. To survive, my ancestors
had to put up with more than I ever could.
Much more..."
MrsK's Review:
Dana is twenty-six, newly married, and living in California. As they were unpacking into their new home, Dana began feeling strange as if something was calling her. Suddenly she was in a green area... what was happening to her? Where was she? All she could remember was that her life with Kevin had become unfocussed.
At some point in time, she hears the screams of a child. A child drowning! Knowing how to save the boy, she doesn't hesitate as the little red headed boy lays motionless. Other than the mother screaming, the only sound she could hear was the sound of a gun being cocked. Then everything vanished.
She had no answers for Kevin. She only knew she had saved a boy from drowning and the adult voices sounded like they were from the deep south. Yet later that evening, she felt herself falling out of her chair.. in a beat of her heart...Dana was once again in the South, in a small cabin with a older child lighting the drapes on fire! Rufus appears to be around 8 years old. Why would he be starting a fire?
Dana soon discovers that when ever Rufus is in trouble and fears that he will die, somehow... someway he calls her to him. Across the states and across time. In fact it was 1815, not 1976! She is in Maryland, on the Weylin plantation in which this boys father whips him... a whipping almost to death. Weylin, a name that Dana knew well for it was listed in her grandmother's bible. Could Rufus be a relative? Her ancestor? This place and time would prove dangerous for Dana, very dangerous. Only the fear of her own death will get her home... home to Kevin. Or so she thought.
Historical fiction, a measure of strength and determination. A time in which we can learn valuable life "truths." An insight into man's failures, social downfalls, and hopes. When historical fiction is crafted with a heart of humanity, there is always an opportunity for the reader to gain personal insights. The fine line is if there is hope or horrific anger. Grit or hatred. Wisdom or deceit. Truth or separation. This story is woven through a prism of light, a light that shines an encouragement... we can overcome injustice and learn compassion from those who walked before us.
MrsK
Historical fiction...
An avenue we all travel!
Meet the Author:
After her father died, Octavia Butler was raised by her widowed mother. Extremely shy as a child, Octavia found an outlet at the library reading fantasy, and in writing. She began writing science fiction as a teenager. She attended community college during the Black Power movement, and while participating in a local writer's workshop was encouraged to attend the Clarion Workshop, which focused on science fiction.
She soon sold her first stories and by the late 1970s had become sufficiently successful as an author that she was able to pursue writing full-time. Her books and short stories drew the favorable attention of the public and awards judges. She also taught writer's workshops, and eventually relocated to Washington state. Butler died of a stroke at the age of 58. Her papers are held in the research collection of the Huntington Library.
ISBN: 9780778319849
Publisher's Synopsis:
A woman inherits a beloved bookstore and sets forth on a journey of self-discovery in this poignant debut about family, forgiveness and a love of reading.Miranda Brooks grew up in the stacks of her eccentric Uncle Billy’s bookstore, solving the inventive scavenger hunts he created just for her. But on Miranda’s twelfth birthday, Billy has a mysterious falling-out with her mother and suddenly disappears from Miranda’s life. She doesn’t hear from him again until sixteen years later when she receives unexpected news: Billy has died and left her Prospero Books, which is teetering on bankruptcy—and one final scavenger hunt.
MrsK's Review:
Beginning in 1998, Miranda knew that her Uncle Billy was special to her and a pressurized source of frustration to her mom. Having the opportunity of growing up in a bookstore is a delight to most children, for Miranda coming home to Prospero Books includes painful memories, unanswered questions, and a love/hate trepidation. Leaving behind her boyfriend and her eighth-grade classroom in Philadelphia, she heads home to Culver City. With so many feelings spiraling within her heart, she opens the doors of Prospero and walks within...
One of the joys Miranda recalls is Uncle Billy's scavenger hunts. Clues that could lead you around the bookshop, around the globe, or clues that might lead you to a family secret. Uncle Billy's will has "gifted" Miranda his Prospero Bookshop and one last scavenger hunt... where is this going? You know the quote, "It takes a village to raise a child," well it will take Prospero's book lovers, friends, employees and a handy-man to help raise Miranda from a school teacher into an independent bookshop owner. Will Miranda decide to value Uncle Billy's gift, while she struggles to keep Prospero books from closing forever?
As a reading customer of Prospero's Bookshop, you can count on excellent "title-sharing" and author picks, delightful setting details, endearing characters, as well as the uplifting "hope" for an independent bookshop's legacy.
MrsK
Independent bookshops...
Excellent book club choice...
A "forever" choice!
Meet the Author:
Amy Meyerson is the bestselling author of The Bookshop of Yesterdays and The Imperfects. Her books have been translated into eleven languages, and her short fiction has been published in numerous literary magazines. Amy teaches in the writing department at the University of Southern California, where she completed her master's degree in creative writing. She is currently at work on her third novel, expected in early 2023.
ISBN: 9780470486788
Publisher Synopsis:
Finding Mrs. Warnecke tells the inspiring story of Cindi Rigsbee, a three-time Teacher of the Year, and Barbara Warnecke, the first-grade teacher who had a profound and lasting impact on Cindi's life. Cindi, an insecure child who craved positive attention, started her first-grade year with a teacher who was emotionally abusive and played favorites in the classroom. Her new teacher, Mrs. Warnecke, made learning come alive for her students. She went overboard caring for each child, made her classroom magical, and encouraged students to pursue their dreams. Finding Mrs. Warnecke not only tells the story of this teacher who made a lifelong impact on her students, it illustrates the importance of the teacher/student relationship in the classroom, and offers principles for other teachers to follow to make a positive impact in their own classrooms. Most of us have had a teacher like Mrs. Warnecke... you know the one! Don't you?
The minute I heard a review of this book, I had to read it. When you have spent what seems like a life-time "becoming" an educator... you never feel that you've done all that you could to guide, inspire, and ignite your learners to succeed beyond their deceiving self-images. By the time 1980 rolled into my life, I was ready to follow the "calling" and return to what I wanted to be when I grew up. The compelling desire to experience a story about a teacher who made the difference continues to "re-kindle" the hope that educators seek... the "seeds" of revelation that will inspire our future citizens.
Cindi Rigsbee became a teacher. A novice teacher learning how to teach her students. Becoming "seasoned" brings forth enough experiences with her learners, in which she will seek to understand the individualized challenges her learners face, challenges that will "re-define" her techniques, "hone" her skills, and create an atmosphere of relationships with her students. As an educator, she continues to greet each day with her "targeted" goal... that her "students will want to learn from her."
"Whatever it takes!" Life-long learners learn from those who are successful. Mrs. Warnecke became Cindi's first grade teacher. Her "turn-around" moment (Have you thought of a teacher like that?). Cindi's first few years teaching became a series of failures, hardships with no college learned answers, and the painful encounters with student cruelty. Yet, grit and determination always moves us forward. After a few more tries, Cindi began seeing, experiencing, and knowing success with her students. You must read this book, for there isn't enough time for me to point out all of the similarities I've had in my career. *A book club with teachers is a must!
"I began to understand that accepting all my students,
regardless of the misfortunes they dealt with...
would be the key...
to teach them effectively!"
Teachers. Who are we? Why do we choose to do what we do? What are our goals? How do you make a difference? Open the covers of this book... and be the change for your learners!
MrsK
Memoirs...
Shinning a light on "who" crossed your path
with inspiration.
Meet the Author:
Nonetheless, other forces prevailed in my life that led me to the honorable profession of teaching. And, like my great-grandmother, I believe it’s important to share stories – stories of the thousands of students I’ve taught since 1979.
So, yes, I am a teacher…and I am a storyteller. But I am also a cheerleader for teachers and a cheerleader for the profession that makes all other professions possible. I believe my Great Granny Maggie would be proud.
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