The Blackout Book Club By Amy Lynn Green

The Blackout Book Club

by Amy Lynn Green

Publisher: Bethany House

ISBN: 9780764239564

I was THRILLED to receive a message from Amy Lynn Green asking me if I'd be willing to review her book. Listen, there are authors who don't even need to ask and Amy is one of them. If she popped into my Inbox saying she was sending me her book I wouldn't even bat an eye. I would wait in anticipation like a kid at Christmas. Anyone else relate? lol She sent me her book for review.

Summary:

In 1942, an impulsive promise to her brother before he goes off to the European front puts Avis Montgomery in the unlikely position of head librarian in small-town Maine. Though she has never been much of a reader, when wartime needs threaten to close the library, she invents a book club to keep its doors open. The women she convinces to attend the first meeting couldn't be more different--a wealthy spinster determined to aid the war effort, an exhausted mother looking for a fresh start, and a determined young war worker.

At first, the struggles of the home front are all the club members have in common, but over time, the books they choose become more than an escape from the hardships of life and the fear of the U-boat battles that rage just past their shores. As the women face personal challenges and band together in the face of danger, they find they have more in common than they think. But when their growing friendships are tested by secrets of the past and present, they must decide whether depending on each other is worth the cost.

Includes a book club discussion guide and The Blackout Book Club book list

My Review:

Once again Amy Lynn Green has hit it out of the ballpark with The Blackout Book Club. She has a gift of giving us a unique look at the world through her characters.

We get the perspective of four very different ladies. The main one we get to know is Avis. She's married to a man who can't join the military and her brother has been shipped off. With her brother gone, she takes over his work at the library. I loved her idea of starting a book club... although it just shot out of her mouth, but as a book club leader, I was all for it!

We also get to know Louise, who owns the library, Ginny, who is in Derby because her home was taken by the government, and Martina, who is hiding from her husband. While I enjoyed getting to know each of these ladies, I really liked Ginny. I think my favorites are ones I see a bit of myself in.

I thoroughly enjoyed each of the book club "minutes" that are taken because the reader gets an utterly delightful look into the characters thoughts and opinions. Their views are as diverse as they are. These minutes cracked me up most of the time. I also loved the variety of stories they read.

In a lot of stories I read, there might be a phrase here and there that catch my eye. In this story it was a page or scene that grabbed me. I have so many tabs in this book that I want to go back to. Ginny probably has the most quotes that I highlighted because she was a hoot!

While I've read stories about WWII set in the US, this story gives us a fictional perspective of living in a coastal town that joins in the war effort to keep U-boats from reaching our shores. It wasn't anything I'd read before, but gained such a new view of what it must've been like for those living there in those days.

*I received this book for review. This is my personal opinion.

About the Author:

Amy Lynn Green (www.amygreenbooks.com) has always loved history and reading, and she enjoys speaking with book clubs, writing groups, and libraries all around the country. Her debut novel, Things We Didn't Say, was nominated for a 2021 Minnesota Book Award, won two Carol Awards, and received a starred review from both Booklist and Library Journal. Amy and her family make their home in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Visit amygreenbooks.com to learn more.