The Blackout Book Club by Amy Lynn Green

 

In 1942, Avis Montgomery is young and fairly newly married when her brother goes off to war. Anthony was the head librarian in a small Maine town and asks Avis to take his place to keep the library open. Avis isn't much of a reader but she reluctantly agrees. Then a wartime need threatens to close the library so Avis invents a book club to help keep the library open. The Blackout Book Club by Amy Lynn Green is the story of that fictional book club initially made up of a diverse group of ladies and is a lovely book.

Initially, the club members don't have much in common. Louis is a wealthy spinster, Martina is a working mom of two little ones, Ginny recently moved to town after war efforts took over her family's home place, and Avis is the librarian. After awhile other people in town join the group. There is actually a fairly large cast of characters in The Blackout Book Club but the way they are added in to the story, it is easy to keep track of everyone. I really enjoyed following everyone's journey during the war in the story as it progressed--they all grew and changed through their circumstances. It was also interesting to learn some things about the coastal areas and how they handled the war efforts as someone who lives in the middle of the United States. The friendships that the characters all built was so encouraging to see--especially since they all were so different. Then, like many book lovers, I thought it was great fun to see what books the group was reading. I love that there is a list of the book club's reads in back of the book. The minutes of the meetings were also entertaining to read.There is also a list of questions for book clubs to use with The Blackout Book Club making it a good book for your book club to read too. I should add that this is a clean read and not necessarily a Christian Fiction book.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions within this review are my own.