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A review by okiecozyreader
The Book Spy by Alan Hlad
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
This is one of my favorite World War II books I have read recently. It is similar to The Librarian Spy - because both books deal with the job American librarians had in Europe, both in Lisbon (as a neutral country where these librarians were deployed to gather books to scan and send to intelligence). I felt like this one went more in depth on how tricky it was for people to get position like this if they didn’t have an Ivy League background.
I also appreciated how this weaves in so many interesting stories - the use of boat airplanes that took off and landed in water, and specifically Pan Am’s Yankee Clipper; Lisbon’s role in selling wolfram (tungsten ore) to both sides of the war to remain neutral - and all of the schemes Maria became involved in. It kept me turning pages to know how all the lives would turn out. I went down several rabbit holes researching some of these events.
I enjoyed reading this book for the Brenda Novak bookclub.
I also appreciated how this weaves in so many interesting stories - the use of boat airplanes that took off and landed in water, and specifically Pan Am’s Yankee Clipper; Lisbon’s role in selling wolfram (tungsten ore) to both sides of the war to remain neutral - and all of the schemes Maria became involved in. It kept me turning pages to know how all the lives would turn out. I went down several rabbit holes researching some of these events.
I enjoyed reading this book for the Brenda Novak bookclub.