The Librarian of Boone Hollow by Kim Vogel Sawyer

I was so excited to get an advance copy of this book!  It releases September 15, 2020. 

Quick synopsis:  Addie is attending college and happy about her future when she gets bad news.  Her parents have hit financial trouble and have lost their home.  It also means that Addie's school bill cannot be paid.  She would do anything to help her parents and is thrilled when a job opportunity comes up to work in a library in Boone's Hollow, Kentucky.   Addie loves books and she is eager to start her job so that she can begin to send money back to her parents. 

Emmett is from Boone's Hollow, but knows Addie from college.  They met briefly at a bonfire at school, but don't really know each other.  Emmett graduated from the college and returned home.   He has all about given up on his dream to have a career due to not being able to find a job in the area of his degree and so he decides to join his father in the coal mines. 

Bettina has lived in Boone's Hollow her whole life but has never furthered her education. She is content to live in the small town and lead a simple life. She has her eyes set for Emmett and is ecstatic when he returns from college  She also works for the library system delivering books by horseback to the less fortunate folks on the mountain. She is convinced she and Emmett can have a future together to include marriage. 

Emmett is shocked to find Addie in Boone's Hollow and Bettina is not happy at all seeing that Emmett knows her.  Trouble follows in the story, not only with personal relationships, but with someone who may just be trying to get rid of the library program.  So much more happens and other characters are introduced but I don't want to give too much away. There are good lessons in here on not making snap judgments about how people live and to not make decisions about people without finding out about them on your own.  It is dangerous to  just listen to talk that may not be true. 

This story is a nod to the Works Progress Administration which included REAL librarians on horseback.  I find this fascinating as I am a huge book and library fan.  You can read more about the real librarians here:  Horse Riding Librarians.

I really enjoyed this story and felt it went along very quickly. I was not only interested in what was happening to the characters, but I love any book that makes me look into a subject even more.  Kim Vogel Sawyer did not disappoint.  If you like books, libraries and learning more about historical subjects, this book is for you. 

I really appreciate WaterBrook Multnomah for the advance copy and for this opportunity to read this fascinating story. 

 

The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim

 

This book was a roller coaster of emotion and actually had a good little "mystery" build up.  

Margot has always been somewhat embarrassed of her immigrant mother, Mina Lee.  Margot, who was born in America, feels more savvy Mina Lee.  In Margot's eyes, Mina has never tried to achieve more or tried to make her life better in any way.   Mina has bought shame to Margot by not speaking English, gotten a better job or tried to get out of her dingy apartment, the same apartment she's still in, much to Margot's chagrin.  And to top everything else off, Margot does not know who her father is.   Mina refuses to tell her.  So, Margot was thrilled to finally become of age when she can leave home and put distance between her and her mother. 

One day, when accompanying her friend on a move to the city where Mina still lives, Margot decides to visit.  Usually the visits are on holidays only.  They don't see each other often and barely talk on the phone.  Margot is in shock when she finds her mother dead in her apartment.  It appears to be a fall, but things aren't always what they seem.  

I am not going to give too much away, but I think we ALL forget our parents had different lives, dreams and desires before we came on the scene.  This is just one lesson that Margot learns about Mina when starting to dig into her life.  Because they were never close, Margot finds there's actually a lot to learn about her mother, and unfortunately hard lessons about regret.  The story then starts going back and forth between Mina's story and present day. 

I really enjoyed this book and was thankful to the publisher for the opportunity.  The only thing that lost points for me was the several thinly veiled semi political, semi social comments as if the author was trying to force certain stances in, probably her own opinions.  

Otherwise, I am glad I got to read this story.  I love reading about other cultures and I think the author was informative in this area.  Thank you to the publisher. I think this book will do well.   Released September 1, 2020. 

If you would like to read an excerpt of this book click here: 

Book Excerpt

Information: 

Buy Links: 

Harlequin 

Barnes & Noble

Amazon

Books-A-Million

Powell’s

Social Links:

Author Website

Twitter: @njooyounkim

Instagram: @njooyounkim

Goodreads

Author Bio: 

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Nancy Jooyoun Kim is a graduate of UCLA and the MFA Creative Writing Program at the University of Washington, Seattle. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Guernica, The Rumpus, Electric Literature, Asian American Writers’ Workshop’s The Margins, The Offing, the blogs of Prairie Schooner and Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. Her essay, “Love (or Live Cargo),” was performed for NPR/PRI’s Selected Shorts in 2017 with stories by Viet Thanh Nguyen, Phil Klay, and Etgar Keret. THE LAST STORY OF MINA LEE is her first novel.