The Blackout Book Club

Title: The Blackout Book Club

Author: Amy Lynn Green

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Bethany House

Source: Bethany House

Challenges: Bookish Books Reading Challenge

My review:

I have been waiting for months to read The Blackout Book Club by Amy Lynn Green. I loved her first two books, Things We Didn't Say and The Lines Between Us.

Giving and receiving love is the greatest risk and the greatest joy.

I broke my self-imposed war fast to read The Blackout Book Club and I am glad I did. This book tells the story of four women all doing their part for the war effort. Typically when there are so many characters (plus their family members/significant others), I struggle to keep everyone straight. That is not the case here, as these women are very different.

We're all passing through, in and out of this world quick as a passenger boarding a train, on the way to something that lasts. Until then, you might as well make friends with your fellow travelers. 

The Blackout Book Club is centered around the library and the book club. Avis starts the book club in a desperate attempt to keep the library from being closed. I love how the book club truly brought members together. Beautiful friendships formed. I loved the minutes from the book club and the character growth of the core members. While I feel like I should have seen the plot twist coming, I did not.

Amy Lynn Green writes books that are deep and meaningful, steeped in history, and rich with details.  I am struggling to formulate my thoughts coherently to write a better review. I loved the book and highly recommend it.

Thank you to Bethany House for the opportunity to read this book. I was not required to provide a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

★★★★★/5

Challenge: 

Synopsis (Goodreads):

 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 share more in common with each other 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.