Helen Dunmore's The Lie was waiting for me at the library much sooner than I expected. And the book is due on April 23rd with no renewals! I would so like to read it and finish it, if not by the 23rd then soon after. But I've been overwhelmed by more projects--writing jobs, leading many nature hikes at Garnet Hill in April and May that involve research and scouting beforehand, and preparations for my Children's Lit summer class that begins May 19.

Back to the book: The Lie, as many UK readers already know, is set in France in the First World War and in England afterward. It has received excellent reviews. I so loved Dunmore's The Greatcoat, which I read last summer, that I'm very eager to read this book. I can't believe the vast number of books published this year about World War I. At my library, there's an entire six-foot-long bookshelf dedicated to new nonfiction focused on this war. If I were an historian and expert on this war, I would not want to publish a book in 2014. All these titles are getting lost in the crowd.  I feel so badly for the authors, who've put so many years of work and research into them. Have you read any of the nonfiction that you would recommend, or do you know of any that have been highly recommended?

What about other fiction focusing on the First World War? Do you know of any or have you read any to be published this year? And of course, there are the reissues of older titles.