Nevermore opened with Whipping
Boy: The Forty Year Search for My
Twelve-Year-Old Bully by Allen Kurzweil which was described as “truth
being stranger than fiction.” At the age
of ten, novelist Kurzweil was sent away
to a Swiss boarding school where he was terrorized by an older boy, leaving him
with a life-long fixation about his tormentor.
As an adult, Kurzweil becomes determined to find the bully and to discover
what became of him. As it turns out, the youthful tendencies did forecast adult
behavior, as he finally encounters his bete noire who is, as it turns out,
incarcerated. Our reader said it was about a sociopath who never took
responsibility for anything. It was a
long book, but she persevered and finished it.
The next two books were
both by Dr. William Wright, about his experiences as a doctor for those
incarcerated. The first title was Maximum
Insecurity: A Doctor in the Supermax,
in which the good doctor is burned out at his current job and accepts one at a
prison instead. By the second book, he
has moved to what he thought might be a lower-key position as Jailhouse
Doc: A Doctor in the County Jail. Our reader described both books as “eye-opening”
and both funny and frightening. Prison culture is definitely different, an
almost surreal environment. Both books
were recommended.
Olive Kitteridge
by Elizabeth Strout was described as a fascinating collection of stories with
common characters in each. Olive, the
central character, is teacher in the small town of Crosby, Maine, and while she
could be described as “difficult,” she is also made human by the author’s
insightful writing. Our reader enjoyed
the book greatly, and found herself surprised by the ending.
The next selection was
a mystery thriller by Mary Kubica, a young author who burst onto the scene with
the best-selling book The Good Girl. Her new title is Don’t
You Cry, a riveting psychological thriller in which a young woman named
Quinn discovers her roommate has gone missing, but has left behind a troubling
letter and many unanswered questions.
Meanwhile, eighteen year old coffee shop employee Alex finds himself
intrigued by mysterious new girl in town. The story is told alternately from the points
of view of both Alex and Quinn. Our
reader enjoyed the book as she had the two previous books by this author. All are standalone novels.
Huck Scarry’s Aboard
a Steam Locomotive: A Sketchbook
entranced another Nevermore member.
Scarry is actually Richard Scarry, Jr., son of the well-known children’s
book author, and has continued some of his father’s work as well as branching
out into his own interests. This book
contained beautifully detailed drawings of steam trains with information on the
inner workings of such locomotives. Our
reader recommended it highly.
As We Are Now by
May Sarton is the story of Caroline Spencer, an elderly woman who has been sent
to a nursing home by her relatives.
There she is subjected to ill-treatment, humiliation, and cruelties to
the point where she is nearly broken.
Our reader felt it was a very powerful book about an important
topic. She found herself extremely
moved.
Mountains of the Heart
by Scott Weidensaul is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a new
edition. It is considered a classic work
about the natural history of the Appalachian Mountain range from Alabama to
Newfoundland. Weidensaul discusses the
flora, fauna, and geology in a style both entertaining and informative. Our reviewer pointed out that very little of
the book is given to discussion of the peoples of Appalachia, other than to
explain human related changes to the environment. Another reader pointed out favorite sections,
such as the discussion of the near demise of the American chestnut tree.
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