Sarah's Key by Tatiana DeRosnay

Yet another poignant story that illuminates the horrific conditions that Jewish people faced during the Hitler era. July 16. 1942 in France is a date that will live in infamy. French Jews were seized by French police from their homes and sent in waves, men first then women than their children to Auschwitz to be exterminated. In this fiction, a young girl escapes the physical extermination but suffers instead a unique internal anguish precipitated by the round-up. This story centers around a Journalist who gradually unravels the details of this fictional but eminently believable event.

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

Fascinating historical fiction. Considerable information interspersed amidst the fictional story and characters. This book describes a culture on a Korean Island Jeju in which women dive in cold water without oxygen and earn a difficult and sometimes deadly living harvesting fish and shellfish while their husbands stay at home and tend the children and cook meals for their family. In the aftermath of WW2 and the division of Korea into North and South, this story unfolds amid the horrific consequences of the resulting murderous discord. In concentric circles expanding outward, this is a story of two girls who develop a touching but problematic friendship which is subsequently torn asunder as a result of a heinous historical massacre of many of the residents of the island. Then their stories and that of their various family members continue to unfold over decades.

Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Really enjoyed this story. The main character, Kya was so poignantly alive to me. Nature, her environment was also wonderfully characterized. The description of the life of the marshlands of the Carolina coast enabled me to feel like a visitor to this unique habitat. A story of a young child who survives abandonment and endures loneliness, the few important people in her life, and always the incredible presence of an environment both harsh and also beautiful and nurturing. I loved this book.

Lillian Boxfish takes a walk by Kathleen Rooney

 "The point of living in the world is just to stay interested" says Lillian Boxfish in this fictionalized journey through the life of a real woman who in the 1930s penetrated the world of advertising to become its most accomplished female voice at a time when clever, witty words had the power to manipulate consumers; and interested she remains over her long lifetime spent in a bustling, ever-changing New York City.  This delightful story works as a paean to both early feminism and the urban life of a remarkable city. Recommended.

This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein

Just finished this intense, depressing, and revealing narrative about Climate Change. Packed with information, data, and eye-opening descriptions of stakeholders in the battle between the toxic fossil fuel producers and the people concerned and struggling with the consequences of its horrific toxicity to our environment and all living creatures. The author also discusses Blockadia, the Environmental Movement newly blended with Social Justice issues. Blockadia spearheaded by Indigenous People who are fighting to protect their land and water from the Fossil Fuel Industry has grown into a powerful force as disparate groups like ranchers and Farmers have also joined their opposition to pipelines. Lots of food for thought!

Fastest Things On Wings by Terry Masear

"People feel so tightly bound to hummingbirds that the birds become miniature mirrors. In urban communities throughout Los Angeles, hummingbirds are the poster children for primal innocence, both theirs and ours. They symbolize the beauty of pristine nature before human civilization came tromping into paradise with its rough, heavy boots and mucked everything up. And despite our ongoing interference, these fearless spirits continue living alongside us, serving as a reminder of what once was, and what can be. This is why their deaths, as small and insignificant as they may seem, have the power to drive the hard truth of our own mortality straight home. Because in the end, as much as we work to deny it, our fundamental condition is not so different from theirs." The author with these words perhaps explains why so many people in LA choose to bring injured and orphaned hummingbirds to her for rehabilitation but her incredible descriptions and loving depictions of individual birds she has cared for, give her readers a wonderful appreciation for these tiny magical creatures. I have viewed these extraordinary creatures dart and hover in my front yard, and marveled at their lovely colors but never have I thought to exert the dedication, time and effort this author gives to her extraordinary patients, and her subsequent emotional strength then to release them back into the urban wild, never knowing what becomes of them. I admire her immensely but realize that I would not have the strength to undertake what she has for so many years. I read this book with awe and now hope that others will as well. Awesome book about awesome creatures, human and birds alike.

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

The Library Book. What would that be about? Written within a framework of detailing and exploring the facts about the 1986 fire that destroyed a significant portion of the LA Central Library, this book also touches on  the significance of public libraries, their typical clientele, the political machinations that control library buildings and services, the dedication of the librarians who provide and promote library services, and the future of libraries. The content is fascinating and endlessly engaging, and I enjoyed so much reading this book.

In Extremis: The Life and Death of The War Correspondent Marie Colvin by Lindsey Hilsum

Well-written revelatory description of this incredible person's life. In awe at the clear risks, she took to get her war stories, I also found myself questioning her sanity. Is this what journalists who wish to cover wars accurately need to do, and do readers really want to demand this level of selfless dedication that may lead to death? This book further exposes Marie Colvin's toxic often debilitating personal behaviors that appeared to derive in large part as a consequence of the death-defying life this journalist embraced with a mixture of understandable fear as well as the incredible courage she had to gather multiple times to enter war zones and do her job.

Becoming by Michelle Obama

Wow! So enjoyed this well-written memoir by an awesome lady. In telling her story from childhood through the end of her eight years in the White House, Michelle Obama laces the facts of her life with heartfelt commentary about her experiences, concerns, fears, and optimism. She details her impressive accomplishments always within the context of the many people who supported her, believed in her, and assisted her along the way. Endlessly empathetic, she addresses the hardships that have marginalized people in our racist, unjust society but also energetically encourages and advocates for the transformation of our society through the Youth who need to believe in their own worth enough to overcome disadvantages. Poignantly, she reveals the difficulty she had in embracing the political life her husband relishes and in achieving a balance in her public life and her personal life during her years as First Lady. Already an admirer, I came away at the end of this book with my admiration enhanced by a more nuanced understanding of this impressive person.

Coyote America by Dan Flores

A detailed narrative about the American native canid, the coyote. With a relatively brief history of perhaps, 6-17,000 years of residence in North America, it has demonstrated an amazing resilience to survive concerted efforts to exterminate it. Coyotes have spread across the contiguous states of the United States and now reside in urban environments as well as their original rural locations. Embedded in Native American folklore and mythology, coyotes have long had an important relationship with the human species, too often negative but hopefully, now a respectful relationship. Really appreciated reading this book.

Rancher, Farmer, Fisherman by Miriam Horn

A fascinating narrative about individuals directly involved in ranching, farming, captaining barges up and down the Mississippi, and fishing the Gulf waters who all have had to adapt to a damaged environment to try to enable its recovery for the benefit of their immediate livelihoods and also its long-term survival for future generations. These individuals did not come out of the environmental movement but instead have developed a conservation mindset from the realization that their way of life is threatened. The author has performed a valuable service to her readers by presenting clearly with much detail the lives of her interviewees and their unique paths to conservation.