Welcome to Reading With Libraries!
Thank you for joining us on this season of our Reader’s Advisory book group podcast! It’s always better when you are here with us to talk about books. We have more genres to discuss, new books to recommend, and we’re so glad you’re here to join us. We always enjoy our book group podcast, and we hope you do, too!
This week we are sharing a special pop culture episode with you! We are looking at the movie No Time To Die – the latest James Bond movie. IMDB describes the plot: “James Bond has left active service. His peace is short-lived when Felix Leiter, an old friend from the CIA, turns up asking for help, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.” Daniel Craig is back in his fifth, and maybe final, turn at being James Bond. And our villain this time is the wonderful Rami Malek. (You may remember him from the tv series Mr. Robot, or the movie Bohemian Rhapsody.)
We have more to discuss, so let’s settle in and get to the fun part: the book discussion! This week we are taking a quick look at some books about spies, to celebrate this new movie. Kick back with a beverage you will enjoy, and let’s share some books you might enjoy. We always enjoy hosting these book groups with you, and want you to have everything you need for the best experience!
And of course, if you are in a library, you can add these books to your collection, or use our suggestions as a place to start in setting up a display for your community members! Do you want to talk about some materials or programming ideas? Check out our Discord channel, talk to us on Twitter or Facebook, or just send us an email! We are here to share ideas across libraries.
Our Book Discussion
Let’s talk books! As always, we list all these titles on our show notes page and give you links to Amazon.com. Clicking a link for further information is great – and if you buy something while you are there, Amazon sends us a little of the profits they make from everyone’s purchases! Thanks!
The Alice Network, by Kate Quinn
In an enthralling new historical novel from national best-selling author Kate Quinn, two women – a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947 – are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.
It’s 1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She’s also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie’s parents banish her to Europe to have her “little problem” taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.
It’s 1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she’s recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she’s trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the “Queen of Spies”, who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy’s nose.
Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn’t heard in decades and launches them both on a mission to find the truth…no matter where it leads.
The Unexpected Spy: From the CIA to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking Down Some of the World’s Most Notorious Terrorists, by Tracy Walder
When Tracy Walder enrolled at the University of Southern California, she never thought that one day she would offer her pink beanbag chair in the Delta Gamma house to a CIA recruiter, or that she’d fly to the Middle East under an alias identity.
The Unexpected Spy is the riveting story of Walder’s tenure in the CIA and, later, the FBI. In high-security, steel-walled rooms in Virginia, Walder watched al-Qaeda members with drones as President Bush looked over her shoulder and CIA Director George Tenet brought her donuts. She tracked chemical terrorists and searched the world for Weapons of Mass Destruction. She created a chemical terror chart that someone in the White House altered to convey information she did not have or believe, leading to the Iraq invasion. Driven to stop terrorism, Walder debriefed terrorists―men who swore they’d never speak to a woman―until they gave her leads. She followed trails through North Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, shutting down multiple chemical attacks.
Then Walder moved to the FBI, where she worked in counterintelligence. In a single year, she helped take down one of the most notorious foreign spies ever caught on American soil. Catching the bad guys wasn’t a problem in the FBI, but rampant sexism was. Walder left the FBI to teach young women, encouraging them to find a place in the FBI, CIA, State Department or the Senate―and thus change the world.
Need to Know, by Karen Cleveland
Vivian Miller. High-powered CIA analyst, happily married to a man she adores, mother of four beautiful children. Until the moment she makes a shocking discovery that makes her question everything she believes.
She thought she knew her husband inside and out. But now she wonders if it was all a lie. How far will she go to learn the truth? And does she really . . .Need to Know?
The last thing that CIA analyst Vivian Miller expects to see when she finally accesses the files of a suspected Russian sleeper cell is the face of someone close to her. Someone she thought she could trust with her four children. Someone whose exposure as a Russian spy will destroy her hard-fought career. Miller panics and deletes the file. She knows she’s only delayed the inevitable exposure…unless she can use her skills to extract herself and her family. Debut author Karen Cleveland capitalizes on her own experiences as a CIA analyst, shedding light on the gritty and unromantic day-to-day realities of intelligence work even as she tightens the screws on Miller. Russian threats, a CIA internal investigation sniffing closer, and the constant fear that those whom she trusts are not worthy of her faith hamstring Miller’s ability to get loose of the situation, while her family is put squarely in the crosshairs. Cleveland brings an invigorating, authoritative twist to the usual CIA thriller, putting you on edge while you flip pages like crazy to find out what happens next.
The Charm School, by Nelson DeMille
On a dark road deep inside Russia, a young American tourist picks up a most unusual passenger a U.S. POW on the run with an incredible secret to reveal to an unsuspecting world. The secret concerns “The Charm School,” a vast and astounding KGB conspiracy that stands poised against the very heartland of America. Arrayed against this renegade power of the Soviet state are three Americans: an Air Force officer, who will fly one last covert mission into the center of a mad experiment; an embassy liaison, who will have her hopes for a saner superpower balance brutally tested; and the chief of the CIA’s Moscow station, who will find his intricate dance of destiny and death reaching its devastating conclusion.
The Lost Girls of Paris, by Pam Jenoff
1946, Manhattan
One morning while passing through Grand Central Terminal on her way to work, Grace Healey finds an abandoned suitcase tucked beneath a bench. Unable to resist her own curiosity, Grace opens the suitcase, where she discovers a dozen photographs—each of a different woman. In a moment of impulse, Grace takes the photographs and quickly leaves the station.
Grace soon learns that the suitcase belonged to a woman named Eleanor Trigg, leader of a network of female secret agents who were deployed out of London during the war. Twelve of these women were sent to Occupied Europe as couriers and radio operators to aid the resistance, but they never returned home, their fates a mystery. Setting out to learn the truth behind the women in the photographs, Grace finds herself drawn to a young mother turned agent named Marie, whose daring mission overseas reveals a remarkable story of friendship, valor and betrayal.
Vividly rendered and inspired by true events, New York Times bestselling author Pam Jenoff shines a light on the incredible heroics of the brave women of the war and weaves a mesmerizing tale of courage, sisterhood and the great strength of women to survive in the hardest of circumstances.
Safe Houses, by Dan Fesperman
West Berlin, 1979. Helen Abell oversees the CIA’s network of safe houses, rare havens for field agents and case officers amidst the dangerous milieu of a city in the grips of the Cold War. Helen’s world is upended when she overhears a meeting between two people unfamiliar to her speaking a coded language that hints at shadowy realities. Before the day is out, she witnesses a second unauthorized encounter, one that will place her in the sight lines of the most ruthless and dangerous man at the agency.
What she has witnessed will have repercussions that reach across decades and continents into the present day, when, in a farm town in Maryland, a young man is arrested for the double murder of his parents, and his sister takes it upon herself to find out why he did it.
Conclusion:
Thank you so much for joining us on Reading With Libraries! It’s always better when you are here with us, enjoying the book group. And we hope you enjoyed a detour into the pop culture world! If you see No Time to Die this weekend, let us know what you thought!
Join us next Thursday with another genre, more guest hosts for our book group, and more books to share and discuss. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast so you don’t miss a single episode! And if you want to hear more about the work we do in libraries or expand your library skills, check out our podcast Linking Our Libraries!
Bring your book ideas, bring your beverages, and join us back here on Thursday!