Lost and Found: Oliver Jeffers

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The usual tropes apply here, Martha's annoying sister knows some of the family secrets but insists Martha leave well enough alone. Librarian Martha Storm has always found it easier to connect with books than people - though not for lack of trying.

She permitted herself to be treated like a doormat and willingly gave her power away, which is an issue I have very little patience with. One day she receives a book of fairy tales with a dedication written inside by her grandmother, Zelda. She's given a mysterious old book and realizes it has her own stories in it, along with an inscription by her grandmother that's dated after when she was supposedly already dead.It was bit of an "easier" read then most books I've read recently but it was absolutely enjoyable but with a more cozy feel to it. The Library of the Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick follows the story of Martha, a woman who is now approaching middle age and whose entire existence has devolved into doing anything and everything for others. She advises Martha that the knowledge will be destructive, and that Zelda will turn out to be less than the person Martha idolizes in her mind. Family dynamics were definitely an interesting part of the story and there were some good emotional moments particularly towards the end of the story. Martha is hard to like; I didn't hate her but I couldn't stand her wishy-washy, doormat personality.

The only book I can even compare it to is Eleanor Oliphant and I liked this one better, it had the same sort of unique protagonist that just steals your heart by the end. Phaedra Patrick studied art and marketing and has worked as a stained glass artist, film festival organiser and communications manager.The Library of Lost and Found is a heartwarming story about family and letting go of the past to make the most of the time we have. Spurred on by the strange date in the book, Martha is determined to find out what happened to her Grandmother and where the book came from. One day, a fairy tale book arrives inscribed by her grandmother, Zelda, also her best friend, who mysteriously died a few years before. In this profound mediation on loss and revelation, on how we relinquish those we love and learn to love others, Kathryn Schulz has created a masterpiece of metaphysical insight, at once richly lyrical and piercingly specific.

I was hooked, intrigued, and ruthlessly curious about a deeply buried thirty-year-old secret about Nana.

Into this chaos, a book surfaces that contains stories, some she made up and told her grandmother and others her grandmother made up with her. But when they get there, the boy discovers that maybe home wasn’t what the penguin was looking for after all! I do not believe any family would tell and maintain lies as big and unnecessary, as the two Martha’s parents and sister did. The shifts are sudden and, although the story makes sense in terms of the point trying to be made, they serve to slow the reading of the book and make movement through the novel somewhat jerky.