Welcome back, my fellow creatives! Winter is the perfect time to curl up in a blanket with a pile of books, and I can think of no better place to find those books than at the local library.
It’s all too easy to just meander over to my favorite sections, though, and 2022 is the year to try new things! So, for this series on Story Cuppings, I am only going to pick books from my library’s New Release shelf by the entrance. Those books could be of any genre, fiction or nonfiction. If it’s on that shelf, it’s game for a podcast!
Today I plucked from the New Release shelf:
I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys
What does a reader experience in those opening pages, and what lessons can a writer take away in studying but a few paragraphs? Let’s find out!
If you do not see the audio player above, you can access the podcast here.
I actually got to read the entire first chapter for this episode! We’ve both a powerful narrator and protagonist, and the humanity of the protagonist is a stark contrast to the bleak world of his Communist home. Perhaps you have many memories of the Cold War; I’ve a fair few myself. But never this close, never this intimate. And I think…I think I am ready to learn.
And say, what’s on the New Release shelf at your own local library? I’d love to know!
Read on, share on, and write on, my friends!
Jean Lee's World 
Excellent Jean. Giving your all here actualy xxxxx
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Thank you so much, Shey! Here’s hoping we can keep this going. xxxxxxx
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I am sure you will. Well I sure hope so x
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Oh wow, this is a must read.
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I think so, too!
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That sounds such an interesting read. It was such a stark period. I remember every year at school we had to watch a film on what to do if there was a nuclear attack. Let’s hope our kids dint have to go back to those times. Really hope things are going well for you. xxxxxxxx
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I’m praying we all stay safe as well, Friend! I hope you are both doing okay. This is still such a chaotic time, but I know you’ve been doing your all to help Hawklad be his awesomest self! xxxxxxxx
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That’s a great title.
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I agree!
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I really like the sound of this book, Jean. I remember a bit about the period and seeing the eventual fall of the Ceaușescu dictatorship in Romania.
From some years earlier, like Gary, I also recall the public information films which were shown in the UK. Let’s hope the trouble with Russia and the Ukraine reaches a diplomatic solution. The world does not need another war in Europe.
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It certainly does not, Chris. We have got to rise up and be better! xxxxxxxxxxxx
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The title sounds like what’s going on in the world right now, sadly. :0(
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I know, Pam, and it sucks. Here’s hoping stories like this help people learn the lessons we were supposed to take from our history…
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Right?! Since history is repeating itself now. A pandemic — Spanish flu — followed by WWI. 😳❤️🩹
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