My thanks to William Morrow and Net Galley for the chance to review this arc.

Althea in Berlin 1933, Hannah in Paris 1936, Vivian in NY, 1944. Three different women linked by one common thread, the love of books and censorship in times of war. I enjoyed this because of my own passion for books and seeing that love reflected in these 3 strong women. My only negative comment is the confusion of the jumping back and forth between time lines.

It’s dark and depressing and parts are shocking but the stories are absorbing and must be told so we can learn from these events.

In May of 1932, thousands of books were burned in Berlin. Althena James from a small town in Maine was invited to Germany to write about the positive movements taking place by the Nazi Party. At first she was delighted with the celebrations in the streets and then as she learned more, she became horrified.

In 1944, Senator Robert A. Taft was sponsoring an amendment to censor books purchased by the Government for the soldiers overseas. Vic Childs was involved with the shipments of paperbacks to the troops fighting in the war. However, she needed to stop this censorship of some of America’s prized books.

In 1936, Hannah Brecht was in Paris handing out antifascist pamphlets in shops and organizations. It was her hope to change the way people were thinking.

Initially, my head was spinning with the characters and dates going back and forth. I was just engaged in one part and then it changed into another place and time. It’s like if someone was changing the TV channels back and forth. Yet, it started to come together when more details were disclosed and then the plot moved quickly with a satisfactory ending.

Nothing is said in the Author’s Notes about the current events of banned books in our country. However, the plot itself sends a powerful message to all of us.

My thanks to Brianna Labuskes, William Morrow & Company and NetGalley for allowing me to read this advanced copy with an expected release date of February 21, 2023.

I’m not a huge fan of historical novels unless they involve libraries or WWII. This checked my boxes. , I enjoyed the three women's stories and how they intertwine. Mystery, love, and bravery abound. Gran your copy today.

I loved this book! Three time lines and three women who believe in the power of story telling and books. How the lives of these three women intertwine makes for a wonderfully engaging read. Highly recommend it to historical fiction fans.

This book started off intriguing, but stalled about two-thirds of the way in. Jumping between characters and different timelines for each character was very confusing.

There were so many good parts to this story it was a good read. I would have liked some information at the end on the actual events from the book.

Three women who believe in the power of books fight censorship and government tyranny in the novel set in pre-WWII Europe and WWII America.

Althea, an American author with a celebrated debut novel, visits Berlin in 1933 as part of a cultural exchange program sponsored by the German government. She's never been interested in politics, so she takes everything her hosts tell her at face value until she befriends some members of the resistance who want to show her the real Berlin. What she discovers about herself in the process will change her forever.

In 1936, Hannah is living in Paris after fleeing her native Germany. Already shattered by her brother's imprisonment in a concentration camp, Hannah discovers that Paris is not free of anti-Semitism either. She does her part to fight intolerance by dedicating herself to her job at at the German Library of Burned Books. As Europe moves towards war, Hannah discovers that she's been blaming the wrong person for her family's tragedy. That knowledge changes everything for her.

In 1944, recently-widowed Vivian lives in New York. She works for the Council of Books in Wartime, which sends paperback books to soldiers overseas. An attempt by a powerful U.S. senator to censor those books infuriates Vivian, causing her to fight back by changing the narrative. To succeed, she will need the help of two women she doesn't know, two women who value the written word as much as she does.

The author does an excellent job with all three of the narratives, slowly revealing secrets and building suspense. The themes of censorship and government tyranny are addressed skillfully and seem especially relevant at this time. Highly recommended.

Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow for the copy of The Librarian on Burned Books. I was excited to read this because I love the author’s Gretchen White series. I had a tough time getting interested in the three stories and the characters. I might not have been in the mood for a WW2 book, but I would have liked one timeline in the present day. I’ll read this again when I am in a different headspace because the premise is intriguing and the writing is great, it just wasn’t for me at this time.

Our patrons are starting to tire of the many WWII novels coming out.
I did not care for the 3 storylines.
Definitely not one of my favorites.

I read plenty of historical fiction, this story wasn’t one that keep my interest. I found the read a bit too overwritten and crowed.
Moving on

I wanted to read this because I was interested in reading about the power of books.

I found the 1944 storyline most interesting. I wasn't familiar with the Senator's efforts to curb the ASEs, and it was easy to root for Viv's efforts.

The 1933 storyline was rather chilling, especially at first when Althea couldn't see how evil the Nazis were and even got caught up in their excitement for a bit.

In 1936 it was interesting to see how people still thought books had the power to influence and even change the world around them and how they placed their hope in books rather than violence.

I strongly believe that this will be the Tattooist of Auschwitz or Lavender Girls of 2023. Probably not the best book for me, but definitely a strong circulation potential for most libraries.

When I saw Book Club Girl offer this novel up as an Early Read on Instagram, I honestly hesitated as I'm starting to feel weary of reading WWII novels. That said, I ended up giving in, and I'm glad I did.

This novel alternates between three timelines, and three narrators, who eventually intersect towards the end of the novel. These women, Viv, Althea, and Hannah, are women who are united by their love of books, and their fight against injustice and bigotry. As an additional complication, two of the women are actually in love with each other.

Viv is a young widow in 1944 NYC, working to ship out books to men in the military, under the ASE program. As the book opens, we learn she is fighting a political fight against censorship against the government in the form of a new amendment regarding what topics are allowed in the ASE books being shipped to the military.

Althea is a young American author in 1933 Germany, invited to visit Berlin for 6 months as part of a cultural immersion program run by Goebbels. Initially, Althea is enamored with the new changes being brought about by Hitler as he takes over leadership of the country, and is unaware of the horrors that lurk for those on the fringes of society.

Hannah is a young Jewish woman, living in Paris in 1936, having escaped from Germany shortly after Hitler comes to power and her brother is tragically arrested for leading resistance groups. In Paris, Hannah works to run a Library of Burned Books to commemorate the fateful book burning in Germany, and to help fuel the resistance in France against the incoming Nazis.

This book alternated chapters from each woman's point of view, and their paths eventually intersect in their battle for books, and freedom from censorship and hate. The common thread through all three women is the love of books, and the understanding that even small efforts can make a big difference.

Thank you to Book Club Girl, William Morrow, and NetGalley for the electronic ARC for review.

Labuskes's The Librarian of Burned Books is a rather lovely surprise. It featured three interwoven stories about librarians/book lovers dealing with censorship, from book-burning to legalistic maneuvers, during World War II. Interestingly, it manages to incorporate LGBTQ themes--something more books from this period could stand to, since there was a thriving gay cabaret scene in Germany during the era. This is a book about loving books and, for many, many readers, I think it will be a five-star read.

Always a fan of books about books and libraries and WWII, I enjoyed the three women's stories and how they intertwine. Mystery, love, and bravery abound.

Took a while to get into, but about half way through I became hooked. The characters are so complex and I loved them deeply. Through 3 different time lines, Labuskes explains the powers of words and storytelling. Labuskes’ writing left me breathless in so many ways- this story is personal to her, I could tell, and I couldn’t help but make it feel personal to me, too. Historical fiction, sapphic, high stakes, and ultimately a book about books, The Librarian of Banned Books checks off all my favorite things. I can’t wait for it to come out for everyone else to read it.

This amazing new book by Brianna Labuskes is a new historical fiction that I could not put down. The book is about the stories of three women across time, connected by war. Mainly taking place in 1933, 1936 and 1944, we follow Althea, Hannah and Vivian before and during the Second World War. This is inspired by real events, and the love of books.

It is dedicated to librarians, the guardians of books. Labuskes has such eloquent writing and beautiful turns of phrase to describe traumatic and harrowing times in our world history, but still making me so invested in the lives of the characters and wanting to turn the page to know more and more.

Incredible. Go pick this up and you will be glad you did. Thank you NetGalley and William Morrow Paperbacks for the ARC!

Three closely intertwined stories, timely in their subject: censorship and bookburning. This is a fight that has been battled for hundreds of years, and Labuskes gives life to three women who were intimately tied to the censorhsip surrounding World War II, in Hitler's Germany and in the U.S.

Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read this advance copy of The Librarian of Burned Books in exchange for a fair review. This review will appear on GoodReads.

"There are moments in your life when you have to put what is right over what party you vote for. And if you cant recognize those moments when the states are low - let me assure you, you wont recognize them when the stakes are high."

Well, here we are again. While this book is set in Berlin 1933, Paris 1936 and New York 1944, the topic is relevant. A senator wants to score points in his party and against political rival President Roosevelt by banning certain books from the Armed Services Editions program, or the small paperback books being sent over to troops in harms way. The earlier dates build the relevancy of the 1944 situation while building the characters and connections. There were book burnings in Germany but we have learned nothing. You can burn the books but not the information nor the learning. And this is as relevant today as ever.

Once this book kicks up speed, its hard to put down. I have to confess that it took me way too long to get into it - which could be the book or it could simply be the time of year I read this. I thought the second quarter was slow and not terribly compelling. However after halftime, the book moved very well and pages were flying. This is one that I think my book club will really enjoy, so I already ordered my copies.

Trigger warning for same-gender couples, and underground cabarets were a thing in Berlin at the time, and Nazi's were killing homosexuals at the same rate as other groups.

4* overall. Good book and extremely relevant to today. A good reminder of what book bannings can lead to.

The more that I read The Librarian of Burned Books, the more difficult it was to put down this novel. Brianna Labuskes creates a novel that recalls some of the most painful aspects of the multiple periods described in her novel. 1932/33, 1936/7, 1944 are years of turmoil and destruction, and Labuskes uses those years to her advantage in weaving together this complex web of history into the lives of fictional characters..

The Librarian of Burned Books is narrated by three women. Initially each woman, Althea, Hannah, and Vivian narrates a different time period, but by the end of the novel, all three women are able to tie together their separate stories. This final connection is so beautifully written, with elements of such emotional intensity, that I was in tears. I have not often read a piece of prose that is written with the beautiful intensity of poetry, but Labuskes achieves that beauty in The Librarian of Burned Books.

I spent a career teaching about the Holocaust and censorship, and so admittedly, I am biased about these topics, but for the first time since I retired, I find myself wishing for students with whom to discuss The Librarian of Burned Books. Luckily I am now the volunteer librarian at a Holocaust museum, and so I will be able to create opportunities to discuss and recommend The Librarian of Burned Books with student groups and other visitors.

I want to thank Labuskes and William Morrow for providing this ARC copy in exchange for my honest review. I will be recommending this novel for my book club and for the library. Historical fiction has a home in the Holocaust narrative. Thank you also to NetGalley for bringing this novel to my attention.