Patty Pick for 5/21/15 is "All The Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

This book will transport you to the European locations 
it so eloquently describes during World War II, but more importantly you will meet two very likable characters in it. They may have to do unimaginable things to survive and in the process they try to save their world and each other. In the picturesque city of Saint Malo, they will cross paths. This is more than another war novel. It is a beautiful story told with the utmost care of it's characters and with words that will sear the times, settings, and people involved in your memory.

The book centers around the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner. Marie-Laure is a blind French girl that lives in Paris with her father. He is a locksmith who works for the Museum of Natural History. He holds the keys to the precious treasures of France, - and he is a wonderful father. He works hard to give Marie-Laure a good life. He builds Marie-Laure incredibly detailed miniatures of the places she inhibits. And when the war breaks into their lives, he takes her to Saint Malo to live with his eccentric brother and his warm and caring housekeeper. 

Werner and his sister, Jutta, are orphans in a poor, coal-mining town in Germany. They grow up in an orphanage cared for by a kind but overworked nun. Werner has an amazing ability to fix radios. He is recruited to attend a special youth school. This will decide 
the trajectory of his life. You want him to make it back to Jutta after the war. 

As they grow up, world forces come together to bring the war to their doorsteps.
They are forced to change their lives in many ways and cope with the untold hardships and dangers that the war will bring their way. As we read back-and-forth between the two, we can sense that there will be a meeting in their future, but you will want to slow down. Every page is filled with vivid imagery and prose. There are a few books you read that you can not wait for the end because it is so exciting. Then there are the ones you want to finish, but hate for them to end. "All the Light We Cannot See" is one of the later. This book came highly recommended and it leaves highly recommended. Don't miss this one! It's worth the hardback price.