Nevermore June 10, 2014
Reported by Kristin
The Nevermore table was full today but there is
always room for more; newcomers are welcome!
With the newly released movie The Fault in our Stars
(based on the book by John Green,) Jud brought up an interview that he had read
about Green. One of Green’s first jobs
was at Booklist, and they recently had an article interviewing some of his
former co-workers and supervisors.
Evidently Green was a bit scattered as an employee. Nevertheless, his unique way of marketing his
books and interacting with his fans has drawn quite a bit of attention. In 2007, brothers John and Hank Green, tired
of text communication, launched a project where they communicated with each
other by video blog every week. Now
known as the VlogBrothers, their fans are known as Nerdfighters. Collectively, Nerdfighteria embraces the
concept of being different, and promotes doing positive things in the
world. Along with their 2,137,240
youtube subscribers, Jud is enthralled by the Green phenomenon. (In the couple of minutes it took me to watch
the latest VlogBrothers video, the numbers of subscribers to their youtube
channel went up to 2,137,280.)
The first book up for discussion was Upton Sinclair
by Lauren Coodley. Perhaps most famous
for writing The Jungle in 1906 about the meat-packing industry, Sinclair wrote
about social issues that came to his attention.
Prohibition, labor, and quality food for a healthy life were but a few
of the issues for which Sinclair cared about passionately. Additionally, this is the first biography on
Sinclair written by a woman, providing a different perspective on the author
and activist so concerned with fairness and equality. Sinclair may have fallen out of style in the
United States, but is very well respected as an American author in other
countries.
Next up was Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas
by Rebecca Solnit and Rebecca Snedeker. This
entire book is made of essays on different topics which are related to maps of
New Orleans. Some examples: Map of oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Important places in the banana industry. Importance of bass instruments in New
Orleans. Hurricane Katrina—what stayed
up and what fell down. This book sparked
a huge discussion on the good and bad in New Orleans, including tourism, crime,
water, and how they manage burial of bodies.
This book was praised as very compelling. A similar publication exists for San
Francisco: Infinite City: A San Francisco Atlas, also by Rebecca Solnit.
Our next reader praised Michael Connelly’s new book
The Gods of Guilt. A follow up to the
earlier novel Lincoln Lawyer, criminal defense lawyer Mickey Haller continues
to run his office from the back seat of a limousine. This outing has Mickey in the middle of a
murder case with a prostitute as the victim, one who was his own client years
ago. Our reader says that Michael
Connelly is an excellent author.
A few different readers have read or are about to
read The Seeker by R. B. Chesterton.
Recently reviewed by Jeanne here, this is a novel that keeps the
reader guessing to the very end, and perhaps even beyond. Aine Cahill is a doctoral student,
researching Henry David Thoreau and hoping to discover clues to expand the
scholarship around his two years at Walden Pond. Nevermore readers are appreciating the many
layers involved in this complex story of a young woman, her family history, and
something that may or may not be lurking in the woods.
Another reader promoted the library gift shop once
again. She recently picked up My Antonia
by Willa Cather for 50 cents, and after thoroughly enjoying the classic has
re-donated the book to further benefit the library.
Our next reader has enjoyed Innocence by Dean
Koontz. Addison Goodheart avoids people,
knowing that his appearance would be frightening. He can see “ghosts” that other people cannot,
called fogs and clears. This is a very
different kind of fantasy book, perhaps a fairy tale, or a murder mystery, or a
horror story, or a love story. Our
reader was rather intrigued, although he did point out that the book had a very
strange ending.
Last mentioned was What is the What by Dave
Eggers. The novel is based on Valentino
Achak Deng who was forced to leave his Sudanese village at age seven. Separated from his family, he and the
thousands of other children, the “Lost Boys”, endured great difficulties as
they were marched for hundreds of miles to refugee camps. Our reader thought that the story was great,
but the writing was a little boring. He
said he couldn’t believe the author had taken this incredible story and made it
“ho-hum”.
The Nevermore Book Club meets every Tuesday at 11:00 am in the Frances E. Kegley Meeting Room, with doughnuts courtesy of the Blackbird Bakery!
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