Nevermore Visits Paris, Snail Shell Cave, the Appalachian Trail, and Earth

Paris by Edward Rutherfurd continues his line of fascinating novels of one place over a long span of time, telling the story though families of various social classes—some real, some fictional.  This novel covers about 800 years, including the construction of Notre Dame, the court at Versailles, the rise of the impressionists, the Nazi occupation, and the 1968 student revolt.  His other books include Sarum, London, and New York.  Jud compared him to James Michener; Ken Follett has also done a similar structure with his recent historical novels.

A more current and much more satirical look at the world comes via Matt Haig’s The Humans, a science fiction novel in which a member of an alien race comes to Earth to prevent humans from solving a mathematical equation which will allow them to make huge technological leaps.   To accomplish his task, the alien murders  a leading mathematician and assumes his identity, or tries to.  It seems there’s a great deal about humans that he doesn’t know and that includes how one should act with one’s family.  Our reviewer found the premise fascinating and particularly enjoyed the commentary on human society. The book is funny, touching, and thought-provoking, and is recommended. Haig is an award-winning British author.

David Miller was a software engineer with a good job and a young family when he decided to take a break and fulfill a dream.  With his family’s support, he set out to walk the over 2000 miles of the Appalachian Trail.  The resulting book of his adventures, AWOL on the Appalachian Trail, has been praised for its honesty and attention to detail.  Many have said his book encouraged them to try the trail on their own, though Miller himself has expressed some surprise that they found blisters, injuries, and exhaustion to be so inspirational.  Other reviewers have praised the book for striking the right balance between practical advice and personal revelation.  The title is a bit of a play on words, since Miller’s trail name was Awol. Jud found it to be interesting, entertaining, and informative.  

Another book which caught Jud’s eye also is a play on words.  Tom Acitelli’s book on beer is entitled The Audacity of Hops. After the groans died away, Jud explained that the book covers the transformation of American beer culture from one or two national brands such as Schlitz or Pabst into a nation craving variety and microbrews.  In fact, the microbrew glamour was so potent that some of the large breweries bought or created their own “microbreweries” such as Coors’ Blue Moon.   A similar phenomenon occurred when Starbucks made coffee connoisseurs of part of the population, creating a demand for specialty coffees and making old standby brands seem outdated.

Finally, Snail Shell Cave by Larry Matthews and Bob Biddix is a gem of a book about a cave in Rutherford County, Tennessee.  The book was published by the National Speleological Society and details the layout of the cave inasmuch as possible, considering that much of it is under water.  There are some wonderful photos that made the more claustrophobic attendees shudder. Cavers—and there are a lot in this area—would relish this book, while armchair spelunkers will enjoy the chance to explore the cave from a much warmer, drier, and safer vantage point.

The Nevermore Book Club meets every Tuesday at 11:00 am in the Frances E. Kegley Conference Room.  Coffee is available and doughnuts are provided by the Blackbird Bakery.  Everyone is welcome!