Books

Alexandra, Gone by Anna McPartlin: Who would have thought that the disappearance of a woman would make a good backdrop for a chick lit? But Anna McPartlin makes it work. When chance brings four people together in an elevator during a blackout the ball gets rolling. All four characters have challenges ahead that sometimes seem insurmountable, but there is always a way. I liked that there was still humor to be found despite the sometimes harsh realities and I was crying this morning when I finished it. Maybe not exactly a beach read, but good nonetheless.

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini: Another strong story from the ‘Kite Runner’ Author. This time about two children who got split up in their early years and their life-long yearning for each other. We hear about their upbringing in Afghanistan and their later travels to France and the U.S. Again quite a sad story but also very uplifting.

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline: Such an interesting topic of American history. During the 1890s and 1920s more than 200.000 orphans from the east coast were ‘shipped out’ to the midlands. Some got lucky and really found a new family but others were just used as cheap laborers. The story follows Niamh/Dorothy/Vivian on her journey through these terrible times. Well written and a quick read.

The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel: The men of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space projects were  heroes. But so were the wives behind them who were taking care on the ‘Homefront’ of everyone and everything. Life Magazine had a deal with NASA and the seven Mercury pilots to report exclusively about the lives behind the scenes. Later this was extended to the other pilots as well. It made for some dramatic stuff and I learned a lot about the space program and how much effort it took in manpower but also in money to put a man on the moon.

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