Cook Memorial Public Library Podcast

Author Photo: ©Kristee Mays Photography

Why haven’t more people heard of Nancy Wake?

An upper-class expat who smuggled documents and people out of WWII Paris, armed the French Resistance, and killed a Nazi commander bare-handed, this war heroine should be a household name — but she isn’t. Author Ariel Lawhon sets out to rectify the oversight in her latest novel, Code Name Hélène. The book is a meticulously researched and compulsively readable account of Nancy Wake’s life, tracing her journey from journalist to society wife to spy.

Erica spoke with Ariel about writing Code Name Hélène, why this story has been overlooked for so long, and the fascinating truth behind Nancy’s signature red lipstick. They also discuss Ariel’s approach to writing fiction about real people, her favorite fictional marriages, and even get a behind-the-scenes peek at her next project.

Code Name Hélène is available to check out in regular print or large type, as well as ebook formats in CloudLibrary and Libby/Overdrive. You can also purchase it at your favorite bookstore.

Find out more about Ariel here.

Books Discussed In This Episode

• All Arial Lawhon books
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
• The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Haley suggests a memoir her non-fiction book club loved.

Readers' Advisors Erica and Amy share three recent books that bring their worlds -- a tense near-future, a legendary past, and present-day America - to life in vivid and unexpected ways.

Books featured in this episode:

• Prophet Song by Paul Lynch
• The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo
• Our Hidden Conversations: What Americans Really Think About Race and Identity by Michele Norris

Click here to register for the Spring Book Buzz.

For personalized book recommendations, visit www.cooklib.org/bookies.

For the library's blog, visit shelflife.cooklib.org.

Email us at [email protected].

Erica and Marianne are sticking to their reading resolutions by digging into great historical fiction featuring real-life banditos and midwives. Then, Marianne gives us the inside scoop on this year's One Book, One Community series.

Titles discussed in this episode:

The Bullet Swallower, by Elizabeth Gonzalez James

The Frozen River, by Ariel Lawhon

The Violin Conspiracy, by Brendan Slocumb

For details on all of the One Book, One Community events, visit 1book.org.

For personalized book recommendations, visit www.cooklib.org/bookies.

For the library's blog, visit shelflife.cooklib.org.

Email us at [email protected].

As the year wraps up, Readers Advisor Jo talks about the most beloved books of 2019 according to the staff at Cook Library. We go over highlights from our immensely popular 2019 fiction and nonfiction booklets available at the reference desk and online.

Listen to this quick 20 minute episode to remember the books and authors everyone was talking about and discover under the radar titles unique to your library.

http://traffic.libsyn.com/cooklib/Favorite_Books_of_2019.mp3