October book reviews from Destin Library

There are four different book clubs at Destin Library and every one has a different story.

The Non-Fiction Book Club, which meets on the fourth Thursday of each month at 3 p.m., chose “The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story” by Diane Ackerman as their October selection. Ackerman tells the story of Jan and Antonina Zabinski, a husband and wife who use their position as zookeepers in Warsaw, Poland, during World War II, to protect many Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto from mass extinction. The Zabinskis risk everything to keep both human and animal inhabitants alive. The group gave the book a rating of 3.3.

The Expanding Horizons Book Club, which meets on the first Friday of each month at 9:30 a.m., chose “Me Before You” by Jojo Moyes as their November selection. This novel is a love story — not a romance — about two people who come together, despite their initial resistance, when Lou Clark, an uncomplicated working-class girl, becomes caretaker for Will Traynor, a wealthy, angry man left a quadriplegic after a motorcycle accident. The group gave the book a rating of 3.8 stars.

The Seniors of Destin Book Club, which meets on the second Wednesday of each month at 10:30 a.m., read “The Language of Flowers” by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. The protagonist of this story, 18-year-old Victoria Jones, has been emancipated after a life spent in foster care. Victoria’s only ability to connect with people is through the language of flowers, and her story, told through Victoria’s present circumstances and flashbacks to her past, is both beautiful and heartbreaking. The group gave the book a rating of 4.2 stars.

The Page Turner’s Book Club, which meets on the second Thursday of each month at 3:30 p.m., chose “The Soldier’s Wife” by Margaret Leroy. “The Soldier’s Wife” tells the story of Vivienne de la Mere, a young woman struggling to raise her two daughters in German-occupied Guernsey while her husband is away fighting in World War II. Vivienne’s connection to a German soldier and an escaped work camp prisoner lead the reader to question just how far they should go to protect their family, a stranger, or someone they love. The group gave the book a rating of 3.5 stars.

Members of each book club provided their rating on a scale of 1 to 5 stars, and all ratings were averaged for one cumulative score. For more information about book clubs, contact Tina Kaple at the Destin Library at 850-837-8572.

Tina Kaple is administrative assistant at the Destin Library.