The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert Edsel and Bret Witter

Largely forgotten by history, the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives officers of World War II's Allied Forces worked to make sure important cultural relics were not destroyed during fighting, coordinated proper repairs where necessary, and helped track down and reclaim paintings, sculptures, important papers, and other objects of note stolen by Nazi officers all over Europe.

This amazing book recently served as inspiration for a movie starting George Clooney, and our library book club has chosen to read it for discussion later this fall. (We'll also be spinning several other adult-programming events in conjunction with the discussion.)  I cannot wait for the conversation. What an astounding book!

Edsel follows a handful of MFAA officers from the group's haphazard organization through the war and into their vital post-war restitutions work. We learn a bit about these "monuments men" and what drives them - why each was uniquely qualified for their mission, and how it the war affected their later careers.

I have to additionally note that I listened to the audiobook of this one and the narrator, Jeremy Davidson, was stunning. He did character voices, accents, dramatizations ... it's hard to believe it was just one guy, reading all of this so, so well.

Sacre Bleu by Christopher Moore

You'll never look at Toulouse-Lautrec's art the same way again ... comedy genius Christopher Moore has orchestrated a perfect blend of history and fiction in this tale of the Parisian art scene during the late 1800s.

It all boils down to the color blue: it's the most expensive and rare of materials used in the art world (that's why it was reserved for the Virgin Mary). But apparently someone is targeting artists, and the weapon may be in the paint.

Painter/baker Lucien Lessard (fictional) and his friend, artist Henri Toulouse-Lautrec (real) play detective in an attempt to reveal the art-world conspiracy .. between cognacs and making the bread, of course. All the big players of the day make character appearances here: Renoir, Seurat, Manet, Monet, Pisarro, Van Gogh.

It's a funny book, but also thoughfully designed to consider the questions of an artist's inspiration, mental illness, debauchery, and creativity.

A note on formats: the first edition of this book was printed with navy blue text and includes full-color pictures of many of the paintings mentioned in the book. The print book also includes a postscript by the author explaining truth vs. fantasy and where he got his inspiration. You'll miss those things if you listen to the audiobook - but the narration by Euan Morton is phenomenal and brings lots of emphasis and nuance to things I may have missed in the reading.

(Yes - I both listened to and read this book. I'm a geek, I know.)