Serious reading, seriously

I picked up two ONE WEEK ONLY NO RENEWALS books at the library last week, so I've been plowing through them.



I started with the one I knew would be the heartbreaker, the true story, The Zookeeper's Wife. I think, if you read and enjoyed A Natural History of the Senses, this may not be the Diane Ackerman you are expecting. But it's good. Awful. Unimaginable. Amazing. A miracle of a story. I think, in her attempt at setting the larger scene accurately, something of the detail is lost. But then, maybe those details are lost to history as well? I am moved to read more about this story and its characters, but maybe after a couple months.

I saved the easier book for today's raininess, and you could barely tear me away, though it made me sad in its own way. People of the Book is very deliberately structured, but the read is lively and fun enough to forgive the hint of contrivance. The paper conservation details made me a little wistful, but it's never too late, I keep reminding myself. I think I will technically be finishing this book tomorrow, but I won't be sleeping till I'm done.