The Lost Book of the Grail by Charlie Lovett

Arthurian legend; British history; questions of faith; contemporary mystery; even a love story - what's not to like?  In 2016, Professor Arthur Prescott is happiest in the library of Barchester Cathedral among medieval texts and his own Penguin copies of P.G. Wodehouse.  But our story really starts in A.D. 560 in the ruins of St. Ewolda Monastery.  Barchester and Ewolda are figments of Lovett's imagination but the story hangs on many real people and events in British and literary history.  Pure escapist fun for anyone who believes in the magic of books and libraries ... and maybe the grail.

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

 In 1905 J. Pierpont Morgan was one of the wealthiest men in the world.  He was also passionate about collecting art and rare books.  He had already completed the grand structure necessary to hold the collection. He just needed the right person to be his personal librarian.  Meanwhile his nephew Junius Morgan, an honorary staff member of the Princeton University library,  had taken notice of a young librarian, Belle de Costa Greene and arranged for her interview at the Morgan Library. The rest is history.  With the brilliant Belle at the helm, the Morgan Library went on become the repository of an amazing art and rare book collection.  But Belle's success came at great personal cost for she must keep secret the truth of who she really is.  Belle's story and the history surrounding her life are both disturbing and fascinating.  I especially respect Benedict's choice to include Murray in the writing to make it all the more authentic. One of my favorites this year.

The Bookman's Tale by Charlie Lovett

In 1592, a group of literary types including Christopher Marlowe and bookseller Bartholomew Harbottle gather at an alehouse discussing, among other things, the unlikely success of an upstart named Will Shakespeare.  In 1983, Peter Byerly finds himself working in the special collections room of Ridgefield University Library.  At his first touch of a first edition quarto printing of Hamlet, he is hooked.  He will find passion for two things there; the lovely Amanda and the world of old books.In 1995, Peter, now a successful book collector is living in the Welsh village of Hay-on-Wye in a cottage he had hoped to share with Amanda.  He is invited into the library of a local land owner to assess some items in that collection and what he finds sends him on a journey across the centuries.

In alternating chapters, murder is committed, forgeries are discovered,  and family feuds are revealed - all in the name of rare books.  This well researched work of fiction will leave the avid bibliophile either questioning or convinced of the existence of a great writer named Shakespeare.  Even if the thought of discovering the "Holy Grail" of antiquarian book collecting isn't on your bucket list, the fast paced mystery will be entertaining enough.

How to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill Gates

 Subtitle: the solutions we have and the breakthroughs we need.  At some point way too late in the game, this very bright man realized a climate connection to all his efforts on world health and education and began doing the reading and research.  Kudos to the simple clear presentation of all that.  His solution to the problem - more R&D to find a way to remove the carbon we must continue to release if society is to continue to progress.  He does acknowledge that his lifestyle creates a large carbon footprint which he then hopes to balance with large offset donations to these projects.  Offsets always feels like the logic of indulgences in the early church - not really a solution.  I wish it were more hopeful.  

Carnegie's Maid by Marie Benedict

Two young women named Clara Kelley left Ireland in 1862 for America. They never met but both were headed to Pittsburgh. One planned to stay with relatives until she could find a job and send money home to her desperately poor family.  The other already had a job offer as a ladies maid to the mother of Andrew Carnegie. One Clara died aboard the ship and the other assumed the job at the Carnegie household in her place.  Clara had no experience with this kind of wealth but her father had made sure she was well read which gave her enough imagined experience to step into this role.  It was her cleverness, independence and great curiosity that made her so attractive to the young Andrew.  As their friendship grew they learned much from each other which sent both down paths they has not anticipated.  Clara was not a real person but Benedict imagines the kind of interactions that would have caused one of the most ruthless giants of the gilded age, the real Andrew Carnegie, to give away his fortune mostly to promote education.  Maybe, maybe not. Either way it is a new lens for that time.