The Right Book at the Right Time

Title: Light Between Oceans

Author: M.L. Stedman

Publisher: Scribner, July 2012

Summary/Review: After surviving four years of war on the Western Front, Tom Sherbourne returns to Australia and takes a position as lighthouse keeper on Janus Rock. Although the island is completely isolated, a half-day’s journey from the coast, Tom begins to find peace after years at war. On his first shore leave he meets Isabel, a bold young woman full of life and joy. As the two fall in love and she agrees to marry him they both envision a life of beauty and adventure in the lighthouse. Years later, after the hardship of living in isolation and after repeated miscarriages and a still birth Isabel is no longer the joyful woman Tom married. Then one day a boat washes to shore carrying a dead man and a living baby, and Tom and Isabel make a decision that will carry repercussions for years to come. In their years of isolation and hardship they’ve lost sight of the lives they effect on the mainland.

This was one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. The story is rich with emotions and you will feel yourself getting pulled in to their story. Would you make the same decisions? And once made would you stick to them no matter what? Tom is torn between what he knows is right and wanting to make Isabel happy after her years of heartbreak. Most stories have a clear picture of right and wrong and the characters you are pulling for. Although there is heartbreak in this story the resolution is honest and real.

Who will like this book? Anyone who enjoys historical fiction or is just looking for the best book written this year.

 If you like this, try this: If you were pulled in by the intense plot, “The Snow Child” by Eowyn Ivey deals with a couple facing a very similar issue. If you were more drawn to the writing, this is M.L. Stedman’s debut but keep an eye out for more from her in the future!

Recommended by: Linda, Circulation Assistant

If this looks like a book you would like to try, visit the Fairfield Public Library catalog to see if it’s available or place a hold! [Link will open in a new window]

Title: What Alice Forgot

Author: Liane Moriarty

Publisher: Berkley Trade; Reprint edition (April 24, 2012)

Summary/Review: This book has similarities to Sophie Kinsella’s novel “Remember Me?” However, What Alice Forgot has a much deeper, more powerful story line.

Alice wakes up on the floor of a gym unaware of how she got there. She soon realizes that she fell off her bike and hit her head hard during spin class. She is rushed off to the hospital by the paramedics not recognizing the people calling out to her. Alice becomes even more confused when the doctor insists it is a different year from the one she believes it to be. What Alice refuses to accept is that she has lost the last ten years of her life as a result of falling off the bike and bumping her head. She begins to realize that her life has gone through many serious changes in the last ten years. She no longer seems to have a best friend, she and her sister Elizabeth have grown apart and, worst of all, she and her husband have split up. They are in the middle of a nasty custody battle over their three children. Alice does not even remember having three children. She only remembers being barely pregnant with their first child.

Alice becomes desperate to find her way back to reality. Her anguish and anxiety worsens when she discovers that she does not like the person she became during her ten year lapse of time. She really is not a nice person at all. She was argumentative and uptight most of the time. As she learns about herself, Alice begins to realize why her marriage has disintegrated.

This book portrays Alice with a strong character. You will enjoy learning about the mystery of Alice’s past and why she is so determined to form a future for herself and her family.

Who will like this book?: People who like thought-provoking books with humor and a few of life’s lessons.

If you liked this, try this: “Here, Home, Hope” by Kaira Rouda; “Three Wishes”: A Novel by Liane Moriarty; “Sister”: A Novel by Rosamund Lupton; “The Story of Beautiful Girl” by Rachel Simon

Recommended by: Beverly D., Branch Circulation Coordinator

If this looks like a book you would be interested in, check the Fairfield Public Library catalog for availability and to place a hold! [link will open in a new window]

Title: People of the Book

Author: Geraldine Brooks

Publisher: Viking, January 2008

Summary: This intriguing book by Pulitzer Prize winner Brooks (March, Year of Wonders) follows the imagined path of the Sarajevo Haggadah, a priceless illuminated manuscript that was miraculously saved during the bloody conflicts of the 1990s. Hanna Heath, a temperamental and talented Aussie book conservator, is called in to restore the book in time for an exhibit at the rebuilt National Library of Bosnia.

As she examines the book, she begins to find the clues that will lead her to uncover the amazing travels of the haggadah backwards from World War II Sarajevo to fin de siecle Vienna to it’s creation right before the Spanish Inquisition. Brooks alternates Hanna’s own journey of self-discovery with chapters told in the voices of the people who protected, defaced, and crafted the haggadah. It is for these historical chapters that this book is recommended: In them, we learn that a book is no simple thing.

Who will like this book?: People who like historical fiction with a bit of a mystery twist. Book nerds and bibliophiles.

If you like this, try this: Another book with a similar backwards-through-time feel is Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland. For more on the history of books and libraries, read the masterful Library: An Unquiet History by Matthew Battles.

Recommended by: Nicole, Teen Librarian