THE LIBRARY BOOK by Susan Orlean

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The worst thing about experiencing a fire (assuming all living things are safe and outside) is the waiting, not knowing what survived, if anything. Then there are the worries about smoke and water damage.  People don’t really think about water damage but that can be even worse than the smoke. Because of my own fire experience, my love of libraries and books and the fact that I live in Los Angeles,  I was interested to read Susan Orlean’s The Library Book. This non-fiction work deals with the 1986 fire at the Los Angeles Public Library. Trust me when I tell you that you don’t need to have experienced a fire firsthand or live in Los Angeles to find The Library Book a fascinating read.

The fire took place on April 29, 1986 and burned for 7 hours.  Four hundred thousand books were destroyed and another seven hundred thousand were damaged. Most people didn’t hear about the fire because the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster happened a couple days later and that was the focus of the news. To this day, over thirty years later, who started the fire at the Los Angeles Public Library and why continues to be a mystery.

Susan Orlean masterfully weaves the investigation of the L.A. Public Library fire with history and facts about libraries. Both aspects, as told here, are compelling partly due to the skilled writing and storytelling of Susan Orlean, author of The Orchid Thief. The book is also peppered with her own library experiences and also explores the role of libraries in their communities and how they achieve their objectives.  Ms. Orlean’s love and appreciation of books and libraries shines through the words on these pages.

It wasn’t that time stopped in the library. It was as if it were captured here, collected here, and in all libraries—and not only my time, my life, but all human time as well. In the library, time is dammed up—not just stopped but saved.

The book recounts, in an extremely engaging manner, the five year long investigation into the fire. It details one suspect’s varying explanations of where he was and what he was doing on that fateful day, which is captivating in itself.  What I found especially intriguing was the history of the L.A. Public Library and the various personalities that were at the helm during its early years. Also of interest was the discussion of libraries across the world and how books get to people in remote places. 

The Library Book is an engaging read that will astound you with all sorts of facts and figures interspersed through excellent storytelling that will deepen your appreciation of books and the role of libraries in the human experience.

In Senegal, the polite expression for saying someone died is to say his or her library has burned. When I first heard the phrase, I didn’t understand it, but over time I came to realize it was perfect. Our minds and souls contain volumes made of our experiences and emotions; each individual’s consciousness is a collection of memories we’ve cataloged and stored inside us, a private library of a life lived.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

THE NEUROSCIENTIST WHO LOST HER MIND by Barbara Lipska

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This book is an account of what mental illness looks like from the inside. But it is also a map of my evolution as a scientist and a person. It is the story of an incredible journey, one from which I could not have imagined I would ever return. It is a story that I never thought I would be able to tell, of how I went from being a scientist studying mental disorders to being a mental patient myself—and how, remarkably, I came back.

The above quote nicely summarizes the essence of this book and why you should read it. Barbara Lipska has been working at NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health) for 30 years. She heads up the Brain Bank, which contains a thousand brains of the mentally ill. These brains are used by scientists to study mental illness, to better understand it and to further our search for a cure.

Dr. Lipska’s area of expertise is the relationship between the brain and schizophrenia. Until the 1990s, schizophrenia was thought to result from being raised by a schizophrenogenic mother (lacking warmth or attachment). Now we know there are brain abnormalities associated with this mental illness. Dr. Lipska was involved with studying altered rat brains with resulting behavioral changes akin to schizophrenia. But several years ago she found herself suffering from similar symptoms.  The almost bizarre irony of her situation is not lost on Dr. Lipska — she titles her first chapter, “The Rat’s Revenge.” 

It must have been extremely difficult and practically terrifying to have studied the relationship between the brain and mental illness only to find yourself as practically a real-life experiment.  We can only imagine what it was like but Lipska succeeds at conveying her anxiety, concerns and frustrations over what she is experiencing in this unfathomable situation.

Although I'm an expert in the brain, I'm repelled by what's going on inside my own.

From my long experience studying schizophrenia, I know that brain problems lead to poor judgment and an inability to recognize one's own mental deficits. But at this moment, all my years of professional expertise aren't helping me see things as they really are: I'm losing my mind—and my life.

In fact, she seems truly tormented at times and for good reason:

The world around me seems more and more peculiar, and my confusion often morphs into anger.

...all of my least likable characteristics...are growing more exaggerated as the days go by. I'm becoming the worst version of myself...

The addition of her expert hindsight adds to the perceived emotional turmoil and allows the reader to experience it along with her.

My emotional overreactions—anger, suspicion, impatience—suggest that my frontal lobe is undergoing catastrophic changes. But these warning signs are lost on me. As an expert on mental illness, I, more than most people, should be able to see that I'm acting strangely. But I can't. Although I don't know it yet, my six tumors and the swelling around them are shutting down the frontal cortex, the part of the brain that allows for self-reflection. Paradoxically, I need my frontal cortex in order to understand that mine has gone missing.

Barbara Lipska is a very courageous woman who suffered through two bouts of cancer. This story deals with her second time, which involved metastatic melanoma in her brain. The book details her diagnoses and treatments of multiple brain tumors, the effects of which reverberate through her family and interactions with others. The miraculous part of her story is that she lived to tell it.

I studied the brain for decades and conducted research in mental illness, but my brush with madness gave me firsthand experience of what it’s actually like to lose your mind and then recover it.

There are a few reviewers I’ve come across who question whether Barbara Lipska really did in fact “lose her mind.” Let’s take a look at NAMI’s  (National Alliance on Mental Illness) definition: “A mental illness is a condition that affects a person's thinking, feeling or mood. Such conditions may affect someone’s ability to relate to others and function each day.” The book specifically details the changes in her thinking, feeling AND mood. We see her suddenly forgetting where she lives, becoming paranoid about close family members’ perceived betrayal and we witness her extreme irritability. Certainly this definition fits with what her life had become. 

In addition to an accounting of Dr. Lipska’s personal experience, the reader gets a bonus in terms of detailed learning about the brain, what can go wrong and exciting new immunological treatments to fix it.

Despite conducting research on mental illness for over thirty years, I believe it is my own suffering that truly taught me how the brain works—and how profoundly frightening it is when our minds fail. I personally experienced how scary it is to live in a world that makes no sense, where there is no logic because the past is quickly forgotten and the future can't be planned or foreseen.

THE HEART’S INVISIBLE FURIES by John Boyne

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The Heart’s Invisible Furies is about one man’s search for self and moreover, self-acceptance. This story, which takes place in Ireland, New York and Amsterdam, is about as well as narrated by Cyril Avery and begins before he is even born. At three days old, he is adopted by the Avery’s, who constantly remind he that he is not a real Avery. In fact, they have him call them by their first names, Charles and Maude, rather than Father and Mother. We meet a cast of characters who, by the end of the novel, become interconnected and getting to that point is a fascinating journey. 

Cyril meets a young boy Julian at 7 years of age and immediately falls in love with him. However, Julian is a heterosexual so a romantic relationship is not to be but Julian does continue as a major player in Cyril’s life throughout school and again, later in the story.  In fact, their two families are closely linked to each other throughout the novel in more ways than one might expect:

Two families inextricably tied to each other from beginning to end as is the house on Dartmouth Street, occupied by both at different times.

Cyril grapples with his homosexuality and eventually comes to terms with it after many struggles along the way. This novel tells the story of his life. The writing is superb and quite clever at times:

“What you know about women,” replied Maude, “could be written in large font on the back of a postage stamp and there’d still be room for the Lord’s prayer.”

But for all that we had, for all the luxury to which we were accustomed, we were both denied love, and this deficiency would be scorched into our future lives like an ill-considered tattoo inscribed on the buttocks after a drunken night out, leading each of us inevitably toward isolation and disaster.

The characters are well-developed and you get a real sense of who they are, what motivates them, who they care about, and how they relate to Cyril. I recommend spending time with Cyril Avery and getting to know his story through this well-crafted book.

THE GREAT ALONE by Kristin Hannah

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If I was exiled to a deserted island and could only take 5 books with me, “The Great Alone” would definitely be one of them. I had already read an outstanding book by the same author, “The Nighingale,” and highly recommend It. 

“The Great Alone” had me hooked right from the start, learning about the dynamics of the troubled Allbright family and the environment in which Leni grows up in. 

Mama could never leave Dad, and Leni would never leave Mama. And Dad could never let them go. In this toxic knot that was their family, there was no escape for any of them.

We learn in the first couple of pages that daughter Leni is once again the lonely new kid in school, having attended five schools in the past four years. Her parents’ dysfunctional relationship prevents her from forming real attachments to others.

She could never tell him how it felt to live with a dad who scared you sometimes and a mother who loved him too much and made him prove how much he loved her in dangerous ways. Like flirting. These were Leni’s secrets. Her burdens. She couldn’t share them. All this time, all these years, she’d dreamed of having a real friend, one who would tell her everything. How had she missed the obvious? Leni couldn’t have a real friend because she couldn’t be one.

Also we learn on page 2 that her Dad (Ernt) has nightmares and her Mom (Cora) believes he needs help. Ernt fought in the Viet Nam War and back then in 1974, the time period when the book starts, we did not know about Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and anything about treating it.

Ernt receives a letter from Bo’s father, which acknowledges his son’s close friendship with Ernt during the war. The letter reveals that Bo said if anything happened to him in Viet Nam, he wanted Ernt to have his cabin and land in remote Alaska. So the three pack up and move to Alaska, where they believe life will be better for the family. 

Living in Alaska, we learn, is not for the faint of heart. The winters are brutal and the entire summers are spent preparing for the cold, including creating the entire food supply. We observe is that surviving the harsh winters in Alaska is less challenging than withstanding the torment within the Allbright home.

All this time, Dad had taught Leni how dangerous the outside world was. The truth was that the biggest danger of all was in her own home.

One of the ways that Leni copes with her dysfunctional world is through the use of a camera by which she can portray her world in her own way and gives her a sense of control over her uncontrollable world.

Instinctively, she lifted her camera and minimized her view of the world. It was how she managed her memories, how she processed the world. In pictures. With a camera, she could crop and reframe her life.

While life during the Alaskan winters is isolating to the extreme, we do meet a couple of the neighbors who ultimately play major roles in the story.

The writing is exceptional, the characters are well-drawn and the story keeps you engrossed till the end. A must read!

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MY GRANDMOTHER ASKED ME TO TELL YOU SHE’S SORRY by Fredrik Backman

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I always read books from the library but this one I had to buy after I finished it. Yes, I loved it that much and am confident I will read it again and again. In fact, I immediately started re-reading it after it ended, something I never do.

“My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry” is the story of a precocious seven year old girl named Elsa and her slightly wacky and eccentric grandmother who creates the make-believe “Land of Almost Awake.” This world consists of a multitude of fairytales which help connect Elsa and her grandmother as well as Elsa and her neighbors. Elsa is “different” and this imaginary world helps her cope.

This quote helps to show how Elsa learns about the power of being different “All fairy stories take their life from the fact of being different. ‘Only different people change the world,’ Granny used to say. ‘No one normal has ever changed a crapping thing.”  

The fairytales ultimately connects all the people that live around Elsa. She gets to know each one of them and their fairytale via letters her grandmother leaves for her in a treasure hunt of sorts after Granny passes away. “At first when Elsa’s Granny started telling her stories from Miamas, they only seemed like disconnected fairy tales without a context, told by someone who needed her head examined. It took years before Elsa understood that they belonged together All really good stories work like this.”

The creativity and imagination contained within the pages is captivating as well as entertaining and the writing is superb. “Elsa is the sort of child who learned early in life that it’s easier to make your way if you get to choose your own soundtrack.” I enjoyed reading this book and laughed many times and felt sad on a few pages. I loved getting to know Elsa and the fairytales that connect her world. I now want to read every book by Frederick Backman and plan to do just that!

THE LILAC GIRLS by Martha Hall Kelly

The Lilac Girls tells a very important story based on World War II and its aftermath especially since it is based on real events and characters. As many books as I have read about the Holocaust and concentration camps (most recently, The Nightingale, which I highly recommend), the atrocities are still shocking and unbelievable. 

The Lilac Girls tells three parallel stories: Caroline Ferriday, a New York socialite who volunteers at the French Consulate and assists with French orphans; Kasia, a polish woman sent to Ravensbrück, a female concentration camp; and Herta Oberheuser, a doctor at Ravensbrück who conducted experimental surgeries on a group of women there.  These women are called the “Rabbits” because they hopped around due to the operations performed on their legs and also, because they were used like experimental animal rabbits. Sadly, the story of the “Rabbits” is true.

The book succeeds most when telling the stories of the trials and tribulations of the women held at the concentration camp. I found Kasia to be the most compelling story because through her, we learn about the day-to-day atrocities at Ravensbrück and the horrific experience of being one of the “Rabbits.” Reading about Caroline Ferriday is a more “satisfying” and gratifying as she was an extremely charitable woman who worked at the French Consulate and befriended the “Rabbits” by raising funds so they could come to the United States and get the medical care they so desperately needed. Early on in the story of Herta the doctor, she seems “human” as we learn of her disdain for the work being done at Ravensbrück and only because her family needs the money, does she stay at the job. What was lacking in her story, in my opinion, was a more detailed account of her transformation into a willing participant in the experimental surgeries. This is offset somewhat by Kasia’s ultimate confrontation of her and her Nuremberg trial. While Herta was able to return to medicine after a mere 5 year imprisonment, this injustice is ultimately righted by the joint effort of Caroline and Kasia. 

Based on the cover of the book, which featured three women arm in arm, I expected the three stories to intersect with a positive outcome. I anticipated the doctor would ultimately be a benevolent character and assist somehow in helping these innocent victims at Ravensbrück. Sadly, I was wrong at my interpretation of the cover photo. However, the book excelled at shining a light on the horrors of Ravensbrück and the virtue and generosity of an American woman.

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BLUFF by Jane Stanton Hitchcock

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“I’m now playing the biggest poker hand of my life with no cards.”

Bluff is an entertaining and fun read! I don’t usually read mysteries but the outstanding cover grabbed my attention and piqued my curiosity. And I am glad it did. Bluff is a fine read which will keep you guessing and wondering, perfect for the beach or a rainy day at home.

Bluff is a somewhat atypical mystery in that the murder occurs in the opening pages and the novel is devoted to Why it happened. This does not diminish the book’s entertainment value at all. In Hitchcock’s capable hands, knowing the outcome does not detract from the suspense of discovering and understanding the Why. 

Maud Warner, the protagonist, is a 56 year old socialite who was cheated out of her mother’s inheritance by an overly zealous, greedy and immoral accountant named Burt Sklar. The reader will come to despise Sklar nearly as much as Maud does as well as admire the clever Maud while rooting for her to succeed.

The book begins with a great sentence - “Death is colorful in the fall,” which for me, sets up an imaginative mystery. We meet Maud as she its heading over to The Four Seasons in NYC. At the restaurant, she tells the maitre d’ that she is meeting Burt Sklar, who is dining with Sun Sunderland. The maitre d’ leads her to their table and, while standing behind him, Maude pulls a gun out of her purse and shoots at Sklar and Sunderland. Who was she aiming for? She then walks out of the restaurant and goes to Penn Station where she grabs an Amtrak train back to her home in Washington D.C. 

As it turns out, Maud killed Mr. Sunderland and this raises a number of questions for the reader — What was Maud’s relationship to Sunderland and why would she want him dead? Was the bullet meant for Sklar? Clearly there was motive with Sklar but what was the motive for killing Sunderland?  Was Maud a poor shot or unfamiliar with guns and how to use them? Did Maud have a psychotic break with reality that caused her to act this way? Could it be something else entirely? Well, you will have to read the book to find out why Maud did it and what ultimately happens to her.

Hitchcock is brilliant at creating the overarching analogy between life and the game of poker.  In fact, Maud has learned important life lessons from poker.

“The great truth of poker—and of life—can be summed up in two words: ‘Next hand’.”

“I lied, of course. The bluff was my specialty, in poker and in life. But then, all poker players lie—just to keep in practice.”

“Convincing bluffing is the real key to a successful poker career. And like pretty much everything in life, poker is about people. You have to know when and whom to bluff.’

Hitchcock’s writing is user-friendly and the book flows well.  It is hard to put down because of its intricately woven plot and desire to know the Why.  

I liked Hitchcock’s writing and in particular, the amusing lines narrated by Maud.  Hitchcock excels at turning a phrase and comic timing in her writing.  She takes familiar phrases and re-invents them and uses certain words in an entirely new context, where you would least expect to find them.

“My parents had many famous friends. Their glamorous parties were so packed with celebrities, I used to refer to myself as ‘the only person there I didn’t know’.”

"Greta knows that great hostesses have to be vampires, ever in search of new blood to keep their parties lively.”

“Although, as a once-great beauty, she considered aging to be the ultimate terrorist attack.”

“When I met Burt Sklar, our family was misery on a stick, ready to be gobbled up by a hungry predator.”

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.