The Book of Lost Hours

 Book 85 of my 2025 Reading Challenge

read from December 1 - 4

The Book of Lost Hours by Hayley Gelfuso

published 2025

Summary (via the book jacket)

Who Would You Rewrite History For?

Enter the time space, a soaring library filled with books containing the memories of those who have passed, and accessed only by specially made watches once handed down from father to son - but now mostly in government hands. This is where eleven-year-old Lisavet Levy finds herself trapped in 1938, waiting for her watchmaker father to return. When he doesn't, she grows up among the books and specters, able to see the world only by sifting through the memories of those who came before her. As she realizes that government agents are entering the time space to destroy books and maintain their preferred version of history, she sets about saving these scraps in her own volume of memories. Until the appearance of an American spy named Ernest Duquesne in 1949 offers her a glimpse of the world she left behind, setting her on a course to change history and possibly the tie space itself.

In 1965, sixteen-year-old Amelia Duquesne is mourning the disappearance of her uncle Ernest when an enigmatic CIA agent approaches her to enlist her help in tracking down a book of memories her uncle had once sought. But as Amelia visits the time space for the first time, she realizes that the past - and the truth - might not be as linear as she's like to believe.

My Opinion

5 stars

This is the kind of book where my 5 star rating is more for the experience than the book.  I don't reread books but this isn't the kind of book I would want to reread even if I did.  The reveals along the way were timed well and the uniqueness of the book was what drew me in and kept it going.  However, there was still enough predictability to keep me comfortable and grounded (and yeah, the ending is wrapped up neatly but who's going to complain about a little unrealistic happiness?  Not me.). 

It was easy to visualize and get sucked into, the kind of book that snuck up on me.  I didn't realize how much I was enjoying it until it was over and I felt satisfied.