Reported by Kristin
Nevermore began with a discussion of Audacity: How Barack
Obama Defied His Critics and Created a Legacy that Will Prevail by Jonathan Chait. A New York Times bestseller, this volume
documents the historic policy challenges faced by the Obama
administration. Our reader believes that
Chait writes fairly objectively and presents a true picture of a president who
enabled positive movement toward civil equality.
Turning to fiction, next up was My Name is Leon by Kit DeWaal. Leon loves his baby brother Jake. Leon loves helping his mother with Jake, even
as his mother spirals downward and is unable to care for her little
family. As the two boys enter the foster
care system, Leon discovers that his mixed race heritage and ‘advanced’ age of
almost nine make him a more difficult placement, while blonde baby Jake is the
perfect candidate for adoption. Not just
a book about the foster system, My Name is Leon has been described as being
about a boy trying to make sense of the world.
Our reader greatly enjoyed this debut novel.
Continuing with a modern retelling of a classic, our next
reader presented Hag-Seed by Margaret
Atwood. Felix is well respected as
Artistic Director of the Makeshiweg Theatre Festival, until events unfold that
force him into a solitary life. Years
later, Felix has the opportunity to teach a theatre course at a nearby
prison. With the inmates producing
William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Felix may have a chance for redemption. Our reader said that the story might have
been better understood by someone who knows the play, but at least now he can
use Shakespearian curses.
Returning to non-fiction, another reader discussed The
Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee.
Looking from a historical perspective, the author (a cancer physician
and researcher) examines cancer as described thousands of years ago as well as
the modern quest to eradicate the disease.
Our reader claimed that this was difficult but important reading with so
much detail.
Balkan Ghosts by Robert Kaplan is an older book, published in 1993, but does much to
explain the history of and the difficult relationships between the Balkan
countries. The political and economic
situation seems in constant turmoil, and Kaplan presents a view which makes the
history of that part of the world much more understandable. Our reader said there is a very good map in
the beginning to help maintain a sense of place, as well as interesting
pictures to connect the reader with the material.
Our next reader reported on James J. Cramer’s Confessions of a Street Addict. Cramer grew up in a firmly middle class
family in Philadelphia but ended up on Wall Street with a brash, loud, and
possibly irreverent view of financial matters.
As he became a daring investor in the market, Cramer continued his
frenetic pace. Calling his wife, Karen,
the “Trading Goddess,” Cramer describes his journey through the world of
investing where fortunes are frequently gained or lost. Our reader claimed that it was “amazing that
he (Cramer) sat down long enough to write his own life story.”
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