Hiding in Plain Sight

Subtitled: the Incredible True Story of a German-Jewish Teenager's Struggle to Survive in Nazi-Occupied Poland

Nonfiction by Betty Lauer

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

Betty Lauer was only twelve in 1938 when Nazi authorities forced her family from their home in Germany and dumped them across the border into Poland. There followed her seven-year struggle to survive in the soon-conquered Poland as the Nazi killing machine rolled across the Jews of continental Europe. Betty was one of only four members of her family to live past those terrible war years, and ninety-six people from her immediate family are listed in the memorial to the dead in Yad Vashem, Jerusalem.

This story is an amazing firsthand account of her experience, and it was both fascinating and terrible to read.

The Secrets of the Notebook

Subtitled: A Woman's Quest to Uncover Her Royal Family's Secret

Nonfiction by Eve Haas

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

As a sixteen-year-old German Jewish girl in 1940, Eve was told by her father that her family had a secret royal ancestor, and he showed her a notebook as proof. The notebook was a diary, handwritten by Prince August, a member of the Hohenzollern royal family in the direct line of the Prussian throne. At the time Eve's family was living in London, having narrowly escaped from Nazi Germany a few years before, and the bombings in England had made her father feel concerned that this family secret would die with him.

After that first revelation Eve's father apparently had hidden the notebook away, and it was not until her mother's death in 1970 that Eve was able to look at the notebook once again.  At that point, Eve began to try to prove the authenticity of the notebook and of her family's connection to the royals of Prussia, a journey that would take her into danger behind the Iron Curtain and into East Germany.

This is a very interesting description, and the story should have been fascinating to read. However, I couldn't get myself into the story. The information was good, but it wasn't written in a very exciting way.

A Scattered Life

 Fiction by Karen McQuestion

https://www.amazon.com

Apparently this book was first released as a self-published book on amazon kindle, and the author has since written many books. A lot of her stories are exclusive to amazon, although I did get this one at my local library.

This novel centers on Skyla, a young woman who finds security in marrying and settling down in a smallish Wisconsin town after a lifetime of traveling around with her father. Skyla forms a strong friendship with her neighbor Roxanne, who has five children and embraces the chaos of life. I'm not sure if the title refers to Roxanne or Skyla, or both of them. Both of them are realistic characters and interesting to read about.

This was a very good book with some surprises.

I also read recently by this author: The Long Way Home

The Year of My Miraculous Reappearance

 Fiction by Catherine Ryan Hyde.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This book is marked YA for young adult reading, but I think it's not for teenagers. It's pretty depressing at first, and there is a thirteen-year old alcoholic. (eek)

Still, it is a really engaging story and the characters are realistic. I didn't like it as much as the other books I've read by this author, but that's okay because I LOVED those.

I also read recently by this author: Walk Me Home

A Time For Mercy

 Fiction by John Grisham

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

In 1988, John Grisham published his first novel, A Time to Kill, a great courtroom thriller about Jake Brigance, a lawyer defending a man who killed his daughter's rapist. This book returns to the same town and takes place only five years after the events of that first book, although it was published in 2020.

In this book, Jake Brigance once again is defending a murderer in a case of what might be called justifiable homicide. But this story is more complicated, and unfortunately it's less enjoyable to read.

I don't want to spoil anything, but the ending ruined this book for me. The story was good up until I got near the end and realized that no resolution seemed to be in sight. The best thing about fiction is the fact that the author can tell you a full story and its ending. In this book I think Mr. Grisham forgot that his job is to tell us how the story ended.

I also read recently by this author: The Guardians

The Ickabog

 Fiction by J.K. Rowling

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This was a fun little story that was NOT like the Harry Potter series. It was more of a light fantasy. This edition had illustrations done by children across Canada and the USA that were very nice.

I enjoyed it.

I also read recently by this author: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Monogamy

 Fiction by Sue Miller.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com

This story is about a couple called Annie and Graham. The title of "monogamy" is a bit ironic since a major plot point is the fact that Graham is a chronically unfaithful husband.

I thought the book started well but turned disappointing. The characters were kind of unsympathetic and it seemed like the story was a little disconnected. Still, I did want to know what happened.

I've read other books by this author that were much better.

I also read by this author: The Arsonist, The Senator's Wife