The Book of Lost Hours

The Book of Lost Hours by Hayley Gelfuso | 416 pages | 2025

Nuremberg, 1938: On the night of Kristallnacht, eleven-year-old Lisavet Levy is hidden by her father from approaching forces in a mysterious place called the time space, a library where all the memories of the past are stored inside of books. When her father doesn’t return for her, she becomes trapped, spending her adolescence walking through the memories of those who lived before. When she discovers that living timekeepers are entering the time space to destroy memories and maintain their preferred version of history, Lisavet sets about trying to salvage the past, creating her own book of lost memories. Until one day in 1949, when she meets an American timekeeper named Ernest Duquesne, who is intent on keeping her from her task. What ensues sets her on a course to change history and the time space itself forever.

Boston, 1965: Amelia Duquesne is mourning the death of her uncle and guardian, Ernest, when she’s approached by Moira, the enigmatic head of the CIA’s highly secretive Temporal Reconnaissance Program. Moira tells her about the existence of the time space—accessed only by specially designed watches whose intricate mechanisms have been lost to time—and enlists her help in recovering a strange book her uncle had once sought. But Amelia quickly realizes that the past—and the truth—are not as straightforward as Moira would like her to believe.

A sweeping, cinematic love story, this feat of imagination explores memory, time, and the lengths we will go to in order to protect the existence of those we love.

(Synopsis taken from Goodreads)

I kept coming back for more of this clever, beautiful, genrebending book. The author seamlessly blends romance, sci-fi, historical fiction, and suspense to create a beautiful story with well-developed characters. The breadcrumbs and foreshadowing were very well done, and kept me reading to see how things would unfold.
In my opinion this book did not suffer from the common historical fiction issue of jumping back and forth between timelines and being hard to keep track of. She had a tendency to stick with a certain storyline for a while, and then make it obvious that the focus was shifting.

This book blew me away.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC to review!

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence - 467 Pages

"At the Convent of Sweet Mercy, young girls are raised to be killers. In some few children the old bloods show, gifting rare talents that can be honed to deadly or mystic effect. But even the mistresses of sword and shadow don’t truly understand what they have purchased when Nona Grey is brought to their halls.

A bloodstained child of nine falsely accused of murder, guilty of worse, Nona is stolen from the shadow of the noose. It takes ten years to educate a Red Sister in the ways of blade and fist, but under Abbess Glass’s care there is much more to learn than the arts of death. Among her class Nona finds a new family—and new enemies.
 
Despite the security and isolation of the convent, Nona’s secret and violent past finds her out, drawing with it the tangled politics of a crumbling empire. Her arrival sparks old feuds to life, igniting vicious struggles within the church and even drawing the eye of the emperor himself.

Beneath a dying sun, Nona Grey must master her inner demons, then loose them on those who stand in her way."

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle-247 pages

I enjoyed reading the graphic novel adaptation of this last year, so I wanted to read the original novel. I enjoyed the original, also. I like the lesson/moral to this story, which is that we should embrace each other's differences and try to understand each other. Living in a world where everyone is the same is not fun or right. It is also not the same as a world where everyone is equal. We are all equal here on Earth (at least, that's how it "should" be), but we are not all the same. We come from different cultures and ethnic backgrounds, and no one is exactly the same as another in looks and mindset. This is a great lesson to teach kids. The other main theme is love. We should love one another. If we do love each other, then we will embrace each other's differences and equality. Overall, this was a fun, thought-provoking, good read.

Star Wars: Bloodline (Star Wars Canon) by Claudia Gray

Star Wars: Bloodline (Star Wars Canon) by Claudia Gray-341 pages

I enjoyed reading this more than I enjoyed Aftermath, although I did enjoy Aftermath. Bloodline is set a few years prior to The Force Awakens and follow's Princess Leia's last months as a member of the Galactic Senate of the New Republic. Additionally, it uncovers some of the origins of the First Order and shows how Leia came to be leader of The Resistance. The political climate is eerily similar to that of today in that there are two main parties, Populist and Centrist, that distrust each other and, for the most part, will not work together. However, Leia (a Populist) and another senator named Ransom Casterfo (a Centrist) are able to get past their partisanship and work together for a while. Han is in the book, as well, though in more of a cameo role. Luke and Ben are only mentioned, so as to not reveal the mystery behind the beginnings of Ben's downfall to becoming Kylo Ren and the founding of the Knights of Ren. I am sure we will find out more in Episode VIII, although I can hardly wait. Overall, Claudia Gray makes an intriguing, captivating book with what she was given to work with. I would definitely recommend it to fans of Star Wars, especially those who enjoyed The Force Awakens.

Cress - The Lunar Chronicles - Book 3 by Marissa Meyer

Cress
The Lunar Chronicles
Book 3
By  Marissa Meyer
552 pages







This is the third book in the Lunar Chronicles series by Marissa Meyer. Cinder was the first book and Scarlet was the second.

Even in the future. there are damsels in distress...

In the third installment of the Lunar chronicles, Cress, having risked everything to warn Cinder of Queen Levana's evil plan, has a slight problem. She's been imprisoned on a satellite since childhood and has only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress a great hacker. Unfortunately, she's just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice. 

When a daring rescue of Cress involving Cinder, Captain Thorne, Scarlet, and Wolf goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

I have listened to all of these books on audio (CD's) and really enjoyed listening to Rebecca Soler as the reader.

Planetfall - Emma Newman

Planetfall - Emma Newman - 336 pages

This book has everything: a messiah complex, a murder mystery, space hoarding, a womb city, and so many 3D printers it will blow your mind.  What really inspired me to plow through this one was the humility and realism of the main character's visceral struggle with mental illness superimposed over the origin story of a colonial society born of what could be termed a different species of the same animal.  Renata, our touchstone and narrator through the book, is buried twenty-two years into life on a colony built on the foundation of the holy vision of her best friend, now believed by the colonists to be communing with God in an alien city.  There are so many secrets swirling inside Ren about how they arrived and survived that it's slowly tearing her apart.

Something about this book feels genuine and naked and sharp when it comes to how Ren lives with the weight of her history at the foot of the God city.  She's brilliant, driven, empathetic, but broken, and her humanity hangs out everywhere as she and the mystery of the colony and a new visitor, the grandson of Ren's prophetic BFF, unravel.  I can't say the end of this book came a total surprise; maybe it was the path of least creative resistance to wind up where it wound up, but by the time I got there I didn't care.  The rest of the ride was such a glorious gut punch that the journey more than made up for it.

Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman

Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman --- 310 pages

Internationally best-selling author Neil Gaiman is one of the most original and versatile authors writing today, as he proves once again in Trigger Warning, his third collection of short stories and poems.

An underlying theme is this collection is the whole concept of "trigger warnings" and how readers respond to stories that take them out of their comfort zone. Another is the homage Gaiman pays to the authors who disturbed him with new ideas and insights. Most of all this collection celebrates the unsettling power of human imagination at play.
I particularly liked "The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains," "Orange," "The Case of Death and Honey," "The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury," and "Black Dog."

Click HERE to read a review of Trigger Warning from the Chicago Tribune.

Click HERE to read a review in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Click HERE to read a review in the UK Examiner.

Click HERE to read an interview with Neil Gaiman in The Daily Beast.

Jedi Apprentice: The Mark of the Crown by Jude Watson

pp. 131

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are sent to a planet that is getting rid of it's monarchy and opening up democratic elections, and must determine which of the candidates is trying to sabotage the vote.

Mirror Sight by Kristen Britain

Mirror Sight
By Kristen Britain
775 pages

Mirror Sight takes Karigan's world and turns it on its head. Sometimes it seems like a totally different author is writing or collaborating on this book, but no matter how different it still adds to the series. Weather Karigan is in the world as she knows it or this different and yet the same world you see her thirst for adventure, curiosity, and skill for getting into trouble.

Guardians of the Galaxy 2: Angela, by Brian Michael Bendis, 168 pages

 Guardians of the Galaxy 2: Angela, by Brian Michael Bendis, 168 pages

In this second in the GOTG series, StarLord is still mad at his Dad, the Earth is in some serious danger, and there's been some kind of disruption in the space time continuum (and of course, stupid Earthlings are responsible).  There is also a new character- Angela, from a place called Heven.  This is the stuff I love about comic books- there's a thread of a really interesting philosophical concept in every one of the good ones.  What if you grew up in a place where everyone had wings and flew around, and there was a mythical "other place" called Earth, where the creatures walked around on the ground and did all kinds of interesting things? It's like if we found out Heaven was a real, physical place- it would kind of blow your mind, right?  Yeah.  So, there's that.  Also, Gamora gets some action, which is cool.

Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Avengers, by Brian Michael Bendis

 Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Avengers, by Brian Michael Bendis, 136 pages

I totally read this once before, but when I went to read volume 2, I couldn't remember where we left off.  And the movie's coming out, and I love some Chris Pratt, so- worth a revisit during lunch.  Anyway: Peter Quill is StarLord- but he has rejected his position as next in line to the throne.  Instead, he's teamed up with a ragtag group of toughies, including Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot.  And Iron Man, for some reason.  It's pretty good- there's potential here that I hope goes somewhere.  And Bendis is pretty much a go-to Marvel man, in general- anything he writes is usually good.