Brianna Labuskes, The Librarian of Burned Books

Title: The Librarian of Burned Books: a Novel

Author: Brianna Labuskes

Publication Information: New York, NY: William Morrow, an Imprint of
HarperCollins Publishers, 2023. First edition.

ISBN: 978-0-06325-925-6

Library of Congress Classification: PS3612.A279

Library of Congress Subject Headings:
Librarians–Fiction; Censorship–Fiction; Women authors–Fiction; World War,
1939-1945–Fiction.

This is a very engrossing novel. I really liked it.

There’s three stories being told at three different times: Berlin, 1932-1933; Paris, 1936-1937; and New York, 1943-1944. These stories weave in and out of each other throughout the book until they are tied together in the final chapters. The epilogue ends in New York, 1995.

The three protagonists are women: Vivian Childs, an upper class woman who lost her husband in the war; Althea James, a Mainer from Owl’s Head that was invited by Joseph Goebbels to visit Nazi Germany; and Hannah Brecht, a German Jew who is horrified to witness her country descending into intolerant madness.

Viv works for the Armed Services Editions, which is a government program that sends novels to GIs fighting overseas. Senator Robert Taft of Ohio sought to censor what could be sent to the GIs, and Viv makes it her mission to stop him. The real Taft did try and censor the Armed Services Editions and did so to get back at Franklin Roosevelt, whose government started the program. Taft was his own worst enemy. His loose lips brought his empire crashing down around him. The book’s take is much more dramatic–as it should be.

Althea is an extremely naive, sheltered young woman who is thrilled to be in Berlin and thrilled to being shown around the capital by the Nazis. She’s basically the country bumpkin in the big city, and her self-doubt is always there to make her stumble. She serves as a tool for the Nazis. Being of German descent, they tout her as another brilliant Ayran writer. Althea attends their cocktail parties with the officials and their cronies, never being out of her handlers’ clutches. It’s  only after she meets Deveraux Charles, a fellow American, who opens Althea’s eyes to the culture that the Nazis seek to destroy. Deveraux takes her to the other side of town, so to speak, and there Althea’s eyes are opened.

Berlin in the 1920s and early 1930s was, well, party city. There was a very active night life in the city, and some of it was queer. That night life mocked the Nazis. Althea meets Hannah and her band of friends through Deveraux, but Dev is not all that she seems. She is an actress, and interacts with the highest party officials as well. Still, it is this interaction with these “undesirables” that Althea witnesses some of the Nazis’ atrocities, such as a massive book burning.

In Paris and in Brooklyn there is a Library of Burned Books—made up of books that the Nazis destroyed. Viv meets the mysterious librarian of the Brooklyn library that she slowly gets to know. There are even copies of books written by Nazis in the library so that people would not forget what the Nazis were trying to do. The librarian seems to be the central character, as indicated by the title. Viv seeks to get her involved with her attempt to save the Armed Services Editions from censorship.

The book well-written and the time traveling throughout was handled brilliantly. I can imagine how hard it is to weave three stories together in a book, and Labuskes makes it look easy.

Ransom Riggs, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Title: Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children

Author: Ransom Riggs

Publication Information: Philadelphia: Quirk Books, 2013. First paperback edition.

ISBN: 978-1-59474-603-1

Library of Congress Classification: PS3618.I3985

Library of Congress Subject Headings:

Supernatural—Fiction

Grandfathers—Wales—Fiction

Orphanages—Wales—Fiction

Wales—Fiction

Old photographs helped shape the narrative of this book. Pictures of people long dead—photos of those depicted who are unknown—the author used. He created characteristics and personalities for those shown, then wrote the book about the characters he created. Ransom Riggs discussed his use of the old photographs in the conversation with a Quirk Books editor at the end of the book.

The narrative itself is clever. Jacob sets out to discover why he was suffering from night terrors after he found his grandfather murdered. He traces his grandfather’s journey back to Wales, where he came as an orphan of war and lived for a time. The burned-out shell of the house contains secrets, secrets that Jacob learns once he time travels to the past.

Time is not linear. The children’s home’s residents have lived in a “loop” of time that resets itself at the end of the day, effectively repeating the same day. The only difference in this day is how the orphanage residents live it; everything else is the same.

The headmistress of the home is Miss Peregrine, who can turn herself into a falcon. Only birds, we are told, can manipulate time. The children, of whom Jacob is one, are peculiars—people with special abilities. These abilities include flying and generating fire from one’s hands. Wights look like normal people but have no pupils in their eyes. They serve the hollowgasts, creatures who were once human but were subverted and twisted in a failed experiment to become immortal decades before. Soulless, the hollowgasts use the wights to hunt and find the peculiars.

I know people like Riggs who collect old photographs of people whose identities are unknown. These are “orphaned” photos of people long dead. It seems strange, but it hurts no one. I do not understand the motivation, but if it helps the creative process …

It has only been since the 1830s that people have been able to take photographs of their surroundings and each other. For the first time in history, what has been and who have lived have some type of a visual record. Up until that time, only the rich and powerful could have busts and paintings made to preserve their posterity. It has only been a little over 100 years since moving pictures and video were invented, and just several decades since such technologies have been affordable to the average person. We can now preserve every graduation, wedding, or other event in our lives.

When I pointed this out to the executive director of the Historical Society, she agreed then told me that we were going to go back to not having anything survive, since everything was digital and not in hard copy. I know people who keep all their photos and videos on their cell phones. When a new phone is purchased, some data is lost. People know that they lost something, but exactly what is missing remains a mystery. We complain about this but do nothing about it. What is there to do? Does anyone complain to the phone provider? Once lost, the data is gone forever.

One solution would be to have every person’s cell phone linked to an account on a remote server (or cloud, if you like the new lingo) that synchs all the data so that, even though phones are lost, exchanged, or discarded, or the phone providers change, the information created by the person would be preserved. This would probably cost more money than we already spend on our expensive phones, and I do not know if there is enough interest in creating such a back-up. This would, however, solve the “missing data” problem. The phone would be linked to the server.

This book is the first in a three-volume set. Riggs has written a fourth book that is set in the same universe but tells a new story. It was a good book with interesting characters.

Ghosts, Ghosts, GHOSTS: Stories of Spooks and Spirits, Haunts and Hobgoblins, Werewolves and Will-o’-the-Wisps

Title: Ghosts, Ghosts, GHOSTS: Stories of Spooks and Spirits, Haunts and Hobgoblins, Werewolves and Will-o’-the Wisps

Author: stories selected by Phyllis R. Fenner; illustrated by Manning deV. Lee

Publisher Information: New York, N.Y.: Franklin Watts, 1952.

Library of Congress Classification: PZ8.1

Library of Congress Subject Headings:

Ghost stories—Juvenile fiction

This book is an anthology of short stories from many different sources. It was illustrated by Manning deV. Lee, who was a well-known painter and illustrator. I bought it when I was a teenager years ago from the Wilkinsburg Public Library, which was selling the damaged book for a pittance. In 2005, I bought another copy to replace the one in my collection.

The first story, Jimmy Takes Vanishing Lessons, by Walter R. Brooks, always made me smile. Jimmy learns to disappear from a ghost haunting his aunt’s house, then, with his aunt’s help, drives the ghost out of the house. My Own True Ghost Story, by Rudyard Kipling, turns out to be, in the light of day, a misunderstanding of circumstance. The House of Ocean Born Mary, by Marion Lowndes, was from an anthology of supposedly true ghost stories. The John Kendrick Bangs story, The Water Ghost of Harrowby Hall, deals with the problem of a haunting, namely, how does one get a ghost to stop doing it? Fiddler, Play Fast, Play Faster, by Ruth Sawyer, is about a young fiddler on the Isle of Man who ends up playing for the Devil and his minions. The shortest story is The Golden Arm, by Joseph Jacobs, which tells the story of what happens when a man takes his dead wife’s golden arm. Irving Crump’s Dead Men on Parade deals with escape from a watery grave. Probably the most famous story is by Stephen Vincent Benet, The Devil and Daniel Webster. This is always a fun story to read as Daniel Webster argues in the court of the Devil for the soul of a New Hampshire man—and his own soul, which is what ole’ Scratch really wants.

In all there are fourteen short stories that can be read to children, and each one is accompanied by a Lee illustration. They are not very scary. Phyllis Reid Fenner was a children’s librarian who firmly believed that librarians had a duty to help teach children by creating supportive environments in libraries through a variety of activities. She created story anthologies on a variety of subjects for children and wrote on children’s librarianship. She was the longtime companion of the photographer, Clara Sipprell.

A fun read.

Norman Partridge, Johnny Halloween: Tales of the Dark Season

Title: Johnny Halloween: Tales of the Dark Season

Author: Norman Partridge

Library of Congress Classification: PS3566.A7723

Publication Information: Baltimore: Cemetery Dance Publications, 2010. Run limited to 1,500 signed copies.

ISBN: 978-1-58767-223-1

Library of Congress Subject Headings:

Halloween–Fiction

This book has a signed, limited edition run of 1500 copies, although my copy does not indicate what number I bought.

The introduction to this book brought back memories of childhood monsters and fears. I remember the Frankenstein monster, the Wolfman, and the rest of the traditional monsters that Partridge remembers as well. However, his stories deal with very real monsters.

The book is a collection of short stories. Johnny Halloween is about someone who isn’t what he appears to be. Someone who is trusted to do what is right and who is actually corrupt. A lot of the stories are about people who appear one way but really are something completely different. Satan’s Army tells of those holier-than-thou people who really are the worst of humanity.

Black Leather Kites was interesting in that everyday people are confronted with the supernatural, but the ending seemed, to me, to miss a last paragraph or page. Treats was short, but this was another story of someone trapped by the supernatural. Three Doors may be the best of the stories. The premise is based on W.W. Jacobs’ famous The Monkey’s Paw, but the story veers far off from it. A mentally-damaged ex-soldier has been stopped from being with his love and he sets out to get her back. The ending is rather gruesome but also very sad and poignant.

The Jack-o-Lantern: a Dark Harvest Tale is dark, but I had trouble getting into the story. I kept thinking about the women: what were their opinions of what was going on? All the characters were male, and there were no references to any women in the town although there had to be, since the men reproduced. It did not make much sense. We have people being ritually killed every year in a small town, and everyone simply accepts this? It seemed too unrealistic. Perhaps this is the problem that I have with horror stories: they rarely make sense.

Perhaps the most interesting piece is not a short story but an essay that Partridge wrote about what helped shape him into the type of horror writer he is. This essay was on the Zodiac murders, which happened in the late 1960s-early 1970s in his hometown of Vallejo, California—when Partridge was just starting his teenage years. He talks of the terror that gripped the town and how it changed those Halloween and holidays for years afterward. It was Zodiac that turned Partridge from the traditional monsters into writing about the monsters with human faces. Zodiac was never caught—perhaps the most terrifying nugget in the entire book. There’s no face to associate with Zodiac.

Horror stories are not my normal cup of tea, but I did enjoy some of the stories. I do like the dust jacket cover. I gave the book to a friend who writes horror for his opinion.

Partridge is right: monsters with human faces are the most terrifying.

Vicki Delany, We Wish You a Murderous Christmas

Title: We Wish You a Murderous Christmas

Author: Vicki Delany

Publication Information: New York: Berkley Prime Crime, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-698-19285-0

Library of Congress Classification: PR9199.4.D454

Library of Congress Subject Headings:
Christmas—Fiction

Hotelkeepers—Crimes against—Fiction

Hotels—Fiction

Murder—Fiction

Murder—Investigation—Fiction

New York (State)—Fiction

I really enjoyed this book. Set in Rudolph, New York, where Christmas is celebrated year round, it had a definite holiday feel to it. Shop owner Merry Wilkinson is part of a family that is friends with Grace and Jack Olsen, who own the Yuletide Inn. Unfortunately, Jack has a heart attack and his son shows up to supposedly help but has his own plans. With his father on the mend and no longer being engaged in everyday life, Gord and his wife begin causing havoc for the town until someone kills him. Who did it? Unfortunately, Merry’s father, who looks like Santa Claus and plays the role, becomes a suspect.

There’s a definite small town feeling, too. Local politics explode as the hunt for the killer drags on. Merry has to put up with the woman who owns the store next door to her. Her nasty remarks are something that Merry is able to rise above. Merry’s landlady is the queen of the gossips and waits for her to get home to cross-examine her on what she’s heard. Merry also has two potential suitors in the mix. Her best friend is interested in the Yuletide Inn’s new chef, but what is he hiding? Then there are the suspects from the next town over, whose citizens are gleeful over the problems in Rudolph and plan to take the Christmas celebration away from the town.

If you like Christmas-themed mysteries and that holiday feeling, this book is for you.

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Neil Gaiman, Eternals

Title: Eternals

Author: created by Jack Kirby; Neil Gaiman, writer; John Romita, Jr., pencils

Publication Information: New York, NY: Published by Marvel Publishing, Inc., a subsidiary of of Marvel Entertainment, Inc., 2007

ISBN: 0-7851-2541-8 (978-0-785-12541-9)

Library of Congress Classification: PN6727.G35

Library of Congress Subject Headings:
Fantasy comic books, strips, etc.
Young adult fiction, English

Having collected all of Jack Kirby’s original Eternals title and just about every Eternals mini-series that Marvel Comics ever published, I am wary of where this graphic novel is going. It seems that Marvel, in the best imitation of DC Comics, wants to reconstitute the Eternals.

Originally, the Eternals were one of the races created by the Celestials, an omnipotent race that visited Earth thousands of years ago. The other two races were the Deviants, those whose physical forms varied because their DNA was completely unstable, and Humans, namely us. The Eternals were the beautiful ones, living for thousands of years, each with differing powers and the ability to fly. They came to live on the mountaintops; Humanity occupied Earth; the Deviants lived under the earth. Kirby intended the Eternals to having been mistaken by Humans as the ancient Greek gods. However, when Marvel originally folded the Eternals into the regular Marvel Universe, where the Greek gods–like the Norse–already existed, it was explained that Humans sometimes mistook the Eternals for their gods, but this was okay with Zeus; he had reached an agreement with Zuras, the head of the Eternals. The most prominent Eternals, besides Zuras, were Thena, Ikarus, Sersi, and Makkari.

Now Marvel wants to redefine who the Eternals are. Thena has had affairs with Ikarus, Makkari and other Eternals; she has a child which she bore to a Human male who was killed. She refuses to give up the child, and Zuras allows her to keep it, although he warns her about the trouble the child will cause. The affairs of Humans are of no concern to the Eternals; the previous relationships Ikarus and others had with them are gone. The Deviants, always a threat to the Eternals and, by extension, Humanity, are plotting another attempt to takeover the planet.

Look What’s in Warner Library!

Warner Library serves Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow. There’s a big browsing section of new books added to the library collection.

Title: Heir to the Empire

Author: Timothy Zahn

Publication Information: New York: Del Rey, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-553-29612-9

Library of Congress Classification: PS3576.A33

Library of Congress Subject Headings:
Skywalker, Luke (Fictitious character)–Fiction
Organa, Leia (Fictitious character)–Fiction
Solo, Han (Fictitious character)–Fiction
Interplanetary voyages–Fiction

This book was one of a trilogy that was originally released in hardback in 1991-1992. I owned all three books but never read them. Since I’m finished with my thesis and my M.A., I decided to give it a try.

It is four years after the fall of the Empire. The New Republic is struggling along as it gets larger and larger, pushing back the remnants of Imperial forces. However, there’s a dark force that the Republic does not know about, and he is slowly gathering ships and men. He is Grand Admiral Thrawn, one of the Emperor’s warlords, who was commanding a sector of the Empire on the outer fringes. He has now come back, and is slowly calculating how to bring about the New Republic’s demise.

Meanwhile, Princess Leia and Han are overworked as they put out the diplomatic brush fires that happen constantly in the New Republic. Married, they are expecting twins. Leia has also begun her training in using the Force from her brother, Luke. Luke has not yet begun to build a new Jedi Order. Even though Admiral Ackbar is supreme commander of the Republic’s forces, he finds that his authority is constantly being challenged by Fey’lya, one of the councilors who seeks more power.

Thrawn finds someone strong in the Dark Side of the Force to begin calling to Luke. For Leia, he has the Noghri out to kidnap her. He raids Lando’s city and steals equipment that he uses against the Republic shipyards. The attack on the shipyards is the first step, Thrawn tells the captain of his ship, in the final defeat of the Rebel Alliance.

I remember when these books were released. These were the first Star Wars novels ever to be released in hardback. They were so successful that they were re-released in paperback, with 2016 being the most recent. This trilogy is now branded Legends, as it does not fit into the official Star Wars canon. It was a fun, fast read. I do understand why so many fans were upset with Disney when they chose to ignore the “established” sequel that the novels created to the movies. In many cases, the novels had well-written plots that were very good.

In any case, I have to recommend this book to any Star Wars fan who hasn’t yet read it.

T. J. Klune, How to be a Normal Person

Title: How to be a Normal Person

Author: T. J. Klune

Publication Information: Tallahassee, FL : Published by Dreamspinner Press, c2015

ISBN: 978-1-63476-579-4 (digital); 978-1-63476-578-7 (print)

Library of Congress Classification:
PS3611.L86

Library of Congress Subject Headings:
Gay men–Fiction
Drug utilization–Fiction
Asexual people–Fiction

Gustavo Tiberius is not normal. He knows this and so does everyone in Abby, Oregon. He has a ferret named Harry S. Truman, and he reads encyclopedias before he goes to bed. He talks to as few people as possible, which isn’t too hard since he runs a video rental store. Besides the few customer interactions he has, he talks to Lottie, who owns Lottie’s Lattes, and three elderly women known as the We Three Queens. They ride Vespas.

His life continues in it’s daily rut until he meets asexual stoner and hiptser Casey, a relative of Lottie’s who has come to stay in Abby. The world Gus knows is thrown completely out of order as he cannot resist the attraction to the hip stoner. Therefore Gus decides that he wants to be “normal.” Gus goes to great lengths to discover the “secrets” of being a “normal” person so that Casey would like him.

I’ve never read a book by T.J. Klune, but I fell in love with this one almost immediately. Gus lost his father, Pastor Tommy (he’s not really a cleric, just a title given to him by everyone in Abby), a few years before the story begins; his mother left them when Gus was five. Gus is anti-social and tries to control all interactions he has with people. (My impression was that he might be on the autism spectrum.) He limits the time he talks to them and has no real interest in small talk, but all this begins to change.

The book is quite sweet. Gus wants so badly to be with Casey that he finds an Internet site on how to be normal and then proceeds to use the information with hilarious results. There is a lot of drug use in the book, Pastor Tommy being a pothead and Casey having used the drug off and on. This seemed to offend a few people who gave the book bad reviews on Amazon. Casey, being asexual, really isn’t interested in the act of sex; he prefers hugs, so there are no hot and heavy sex scenes.

I wondered about Gus’ relationship with Pastor Tommy, but it unfolds over the course of the entire book. We learn that there was real love Pastor Tommy had for his son, and that Gus really misses his father. (Pastor Tommy died of cancer.) It’s quite poignant. The book is cleverly written.

The book was thoroughly enjoyable, and I highly recommend it.

 

Jenn McKinlay, On Borrowed Time

Title: On Borrowed Time

Author: Jenn McKinlay

Series: A Library Lover’s Mystery, book 5

Publication Information: New York: Berkeley Prime Crime, 2014

ISBN: 978-0-425-26073-9

Library of Congress Classification: PS3556.R45

Library of Congress Subject Headings:
Norris, Lindsay (Fictitious character)—Fiction
Briar Creek (Conn. :  Fictitious place)—Fiction
Christmas—Fiction
Library directors—Fiction
Public libraries—Fiction
Murder—Investigation—Fiction
Kidnapping–Fiction
Man-woman relationships–Fiction

This is the fifth book in A Library Lover’s Mystery series.

Lindsay Norris is the public library director of Briar Creek, Connecticut, a small New England town. She lives in an apartment with her dog, Heathcliff, and is part of a love triangle with local taxi boat captain, Mike Sullivan, and recently arrived (and married) British actor, Robbie Vine.

The town is preparing for Christmas. The library is decorated, and we get to meet the locals as the book progresses. Beth, the children’s librarian, is one of Lindsay’s best friends. Unfortunately, Beth also has a thing for Lindsay’s brother, Jack. Jack is an economist; he travels the world having one adventure (or misadventure, depending on your point of view) after another as he helps companies across the globe.

Jack sneaks into the library through and open window and Lindsay discovers him. Of course Jack doesn’t come right out and tell her that he’s in trouble. That would be too easy. He promises to tell her everything after he takes a nap. Lindsay was going to use the room for her library book club, but Jack’s presence causes her to move the meeting to another room.

Lindsay later finds the body of someone she doesn’t know in the room, and Jack is now missing. She does not tell the police the entire story of what happened, and she ends up getting Mike and–to a lesser extent–Robbie involved in the case. Mike and Lindsay witness Jack’s abduction by speedboat. Then Lindsay is threatened not to tell the police or her brother would be killed.

Beth is an interesting character. As a librarian responsible for teenage programming, she gets dressed up in a steampunk outfit to lead a teenage group in a get-together at the local restaurant. She’ a bit eclectic, and these are the types of characters that I like. To an extent she marches to her own drum and doesn’t care what others think. The book includes book club members’ recipes, one of which is Beth’s.

The love triangle isn’t something that I can relate to, since I’ve never been in one. Mike and Robbie do compete for Lindsay’s attention, and try to one-up each other. Robbie is only married for convenience and promises to divorce his wife.

It’s Christmas time and the library is decorated, but there really isn’t a feel for the holiday. The only time that Christmas comes into the picture is when Lindsay debates on whether or not to tell her parents what happened to Jack; the family is supposed to get together for the holiday.

As for Jack, eh. He’s just another pretty boy. It’s stretching reality to believe that archaeologists could live the life of Indiana Jones let alone economists. I sympathize with poor Beth, who’s bound to get burned in one of the upcoming novels.

A. Van Kraft, Sleepy Hollow: the Secret Life and Legend of Ichabod Crane

Title: Sleepy Hollow: the Secret Life and Legend of Ichabod Crane

Author: A. Van Kraft

Publication Information: A Studio Book, c2013. 1st ed.

ISBN: 978-0-615-81934-1

Library of Congress Classification: PS3611.R238

Library of Congress Subject Headings:
Stevens, Andrew (Fictitious character)—Fiction
Crane, Ichabod (Fictitious character)—Fiction
Male teachers—New York (State)—Sleepy Hollow—Fiction
Intelligence officers—New York (State)—Sleepy Hollow—Fiction
Sleepy Hollow (N.Y.)—Fiction
New York (State)—History—Fiction

This book is a clever twist on Irving’s Legend.

Ichabod Crane is not what he seems. This is an alias for Andrew Stevens, a New York State agent sent to Sleepy Hollow by the Inspector General to take an informal census and to study the population. He is undercover and assumes the position of schoolmaster while he carries out his mission. What Stevens discovers shocks and horrifies him.

The year is 1788. George Washington has yet to take the oath of office as the first president of the United States–which takes place in 1789. The country is still governed by the Articles of Confederation. The United States is in a shambles, as Stevens says, and is just beginning to pull itself together after the Revolutionary War and the weak organization under the Articles.

Brom Bones, Katerina Van Tassel, Baltus Van Tassel, they are all here. Even the Headless Horseman makes an appearance, but the supernatural does not play any real role in the book. There are supernatural occurrences that happen, but they are explained away by Brom. The crimes taking place in Sleepy Hollow are all too real, too common and horrifying, and when Stevens discovers what is going on, he must flee or lose his life. Without the help of Katerina and Brom, he would die.

I liked this book. The reveal of what’s going on is surprising, and the punishment inflicted by the Sleepy Hollow people on one of their own is gruesome, but the person got his just desserts. There’s also references to Irving’s story throughout that contrasts with what Stevens is experiencing.