Author Michael Frank met with now 98 year old Stella Levi on 100 Saturdays over six years. Stella is a Jewish woman born and raised in Rhodes, Greece. She grew up amongst Greeks, Turks, Italians and Judeo -Spaniards. Stella came from a close knit family where she was the youngest of seven children. As the Germans invaded Greece, Stella’s carefree, yet learned, life became more and more frightening. Eventually she and other family members arrived in Auschwitz. Stella and her sister, Renee, somehow survived. After, Stella tried living in Italy and Los Angeles, but felt most comfortable in New York City.

Although there are horrifying scenes of the Holocaust, One Hundred Saturdays is more than a book about that period of history. Rather, it is a biography about an intelligent, lucky, no nonsense, very honest and exceptional woman who lived a unique life.

The setting for Glass’s most recent novel takes place in a pristine coastal village on the east coast sometime in the near future. Told mainly by five narrators, Vigil Harbor describes what happens to the town and its citizens when two strangers suddenly arrive.

Because there are a number of different voices, it took me about 50 pages to get into Vigil Harbor. Once I did, it certainly qualified as a good read. Vigil Harbor was not as good as Glass’s first novel, Three Junes, but better than others of hers that I’ve read.

Zadie Smith’s new novel is a work of historical fiction centered around an English trial in 1873. The case, which actually occurred, involves a man who claims that he is a missing aristocrat who was ship wrecked and then lived in Australia for many years. The other main characters in Fraud are Eliza Touchet a women who appears prim and proper but is anything but. Her lover is her cousin, William Ainsworth, a mediocre author. Andrew Bogle, a Black man and former slave who is a key witness at the trial, is the main reason Eliza is fascinated by the daily happenings at the trial.

I found Fraud disappointing. The descriptions of the trial and the characters involved made me eager to read Fraud. However, Smith’s novel keeps jumping around in time and setting, making it confusing and frustrating.

Sam Masur and Sadie Green meet when he is in the hospital recuperating from an automobile accident, and she is visiting her sister who has cancer. They both love video games, and they play them whenever Sadie visits her sister. During college they meet again and create a hugely popular game. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow describes Sam and Sadie’s relationship over 25 years-how the friendship changes and the people they on their journey.

Zevin’s novel is hugely popular and deservedly so. Its characters are well-drawn, decent people and the plot moves along at a good pace. Although it is not necessary to know anything about gaming to appreciate Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, knowing even a little bit about that world makes this work of fiction even more enjoyable.

It is 1963, and Annie Ernaux, winner of The Nobel Prize for Literature in 2022, has just discovered that she is pregnant. She is absolutely sure she is not ready to raise a child, but abortion is illegal in France. Happenings describes the trials and tribulations she must endure in order to obtain an abortion.

Annie Ernaux’s memoir took me back to the time when abortions were illegal and women feared nothing more than an unwanted pregnancy. Happening is moving and frightening, especially considering what is happening today. This is a small book with a lot to say. I look forward to reading another book by Ernaux.

It is 1936 and the Chicken Hill section of Pottstown, Pennsylvania is a neighborhood of mostly Jews and Blacks who, for the most part, get along well. One reason for this is Chona Ludlow, the owner of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. Chona would give anyone credit-man, woman or child-as well as helping the citizens of Chicken Hill in other ways. When a young deaf Black boy nicknamed Dodo is wrongly accused of attacking Chona and placed in a mental hospital, these neighbors work to get Dodo out.

A short summary of The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store does not do justice to it. I admired everything about this novel-the characters, the story line and the magnificent prose. Be sure to read McBride’s acknowledgements. I shed a few tears when I came to the end.

I don’t often read children’s books and rarely write about them, but I couldn’t resist a book about animals by Dave Eggers. Johannes is a wild dog, the narrator and the “eyes” of the land he lives on. Along with his helpers, a racoon, a squirrel, and two sea gulls, he reports to the bison about what is going on all around them. All the animals are free to roam the beach and the forest except the bison. One day it dawns on Johannes that after years of living surrounded by a fence, the bison should be set free.

What I especially like about The Eyes & the Impossible is that it subtly illustrates concepts of friendship, freedom, cooperation and trust without being at all preachy. This is a wonderful read for children 8-12. Because there is plenty of subtlety in The Eyes & the Impossible, it is an excellent book to read aloud and discuss with children of all ages.

This is a sequel to Everybody’s Fool and Nobody’s Fool. Once again we are in North Bath, New York, a dying mill town, but this time the focus is on the next generation-Peter Sullivan, Sully’s son, his sons and the people his deceased father asked him to keep an eye on. A side story involves the former police chief of North Bath, an unexplained death and a sadistic cop.

Richard Russo has never disappointed me. Many of his characters are loving schlemiels, his story line is fun to read, yet all his novels have some depth to them. Somebody’s Fool is a wonderful summer read and you don’t have to read the other “Fool” books to understand everything that is going on here. It felt so good to be back in North Bath, New York.

It is Paris in the 1950’s. David, an American and the novel’s narrator, meets Giovanni, a bartender from Italy, while David’s girlfriend, Helle, is gallivanting around Spain. David moves in with Giovanni and they have an affair. The reader learns in the first few pages of Giovanni’s Room that eventually Helle leaves David and moves back to America, Giovanni is about to be executed and David feels shame and guilt about all that has occurred. The bulk of the novel describes what led up to that guilt, the execution and the flight to America.

Because of what is happening in this country, I felt it was time for me to read and support a widely banned book. Although it was probably a bit shocking when it was first published in 1956, it is tame by today’s standards. Giovanni’s Room is a good read. Baldwin is a fine writer. He does a great job portraying events and characters without telling everything, thus leaving room for discussion and speculation.

Most of the del Pino family were born and raised in Cuba, but now they are scattered all over the world. A very few still live in Cuba, but others make their homes in Moscow, Los Angeles and Berlin. Although most of them refuse to return to Cuba, even for a short visit, they all feel the seduction of their Cuban roots.

Many years ago I read Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia. I remember thoroughly enjoying it. I was looking forward to reading her newest novel, because it is a sequel to Dreaming in Cuban. Sadly, I was disappointed. Vanishing Maps has too many characters with very little depth to them and very little plot line.