The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

This book is riding a wave of popularity and when I saw it on the shelf at my local library, I caught that wave and rode it. Ironic, because the American Library in Paris is the central figure in the book. It is true that storiess set in occupied territory during WWII are not inherently light, but this one somehow is. I woke up early one morning, started it because the style is light enough to be read on a short night of sleep, and by the end of the day I was finishing it up. The hook is that all the characters love books and reading, and many of them are bound together by the love of the written word-=-just like we are as readers. This one tells of two women, sepatated by many decades, who are young and seeking love. They are blind to things, they hurt people unthinkingly, and they come to see the errors of their ways, a bit later than ideal but also completely understandably. The backdrop of war is the one difference, and it might have been a more powerful juxtaposition if the story was told in the pandemic, because while this has not been great, it is nothing like what was faced in the time of war. The issue of communities and what binds them together is touched upon, but not too deeply. You can definitely read this on vacation and it will give you a little to think about, but not too much.