Shadows Over Baker Street edited by Michael Reaves and John Pelan

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

This wonderful collection of short stories imagines the worlds of Sherlock Holmes and H.P. Lovecraft colliding to deliciously chilling effect.  There’s a good mix of authors, from Poppy Z. Brite to Brian Stableford to Barbara Hambly, and as far as I’m concerned, there wasn’t a bad story in the bunch. I’ll confess outright while I have read a number of Lovecraft’s tales such as The Dunwich Horror, Rats in the Walls, and Pickman’s Model, I’m not well-versed in the world.  I’m sure I missed a lot of subtle touches, but even so I thoroughly enjoyed these tales.

I picked the book up to re-read a favorite story:  Neil Gaiman’s A Study in Emerald. I had read it in another collection some years ago, and then inspired by the graphic novel version of the story, decided I wanted to read the original and ended up working my way through the whole book. Gaiman’s story is set in a universe where, we gradually realize, the Earth is ruled by the Great Old Ones as royal families and the Great Detective and his Bosworth are called upon to solve the mystery of a murder of the Queen’s nephew. The writing is superb and the surprises are many.  I especially liked the advertisements that appeared from time to time.

 Some authors made more of the Victorian setting than others; The Curious Case of Miss Violet Stone by Brite and Ferguson which has Holmes and Watson investigating the case of a young woman who, it is claimed, has not eaten in three years is a reflection of the “fasting girls” of that era. 

Another uses Watson’s service in Afghanistan as a backdrop.  The Adventure of the Arab’s Manuscript by Michael Reaves had Watson encountering a woman who had once saved his life and who now is on the trail of a copy of a forbidden book. 

Usually in such a collection I’ll find a story or two that I consider a complete clunker, but not in this one. While I liked some stories better than others, there wasn’t a one I disliked.

If you like Holmes with a bit of a supernatural edge, this may be a collection for you. I think Lovecraft fans would also enjoy it.

Nevermore: Fair and Tender Ladies, Boy Who Talked to Dogs, Dollbaby, Librarian of Burned Books

 Reported by Garry

 

Fair and Tender Ladies by Lee Smith. “I used to be a scandal myself. Now I am an institution.” Ivy Crow is a firecracker - raised in the mountains of Appalachia at the turn of the last century, she is the daughter of a down-on-their-luck family and one of nine siblings whose lives are upended when their father dies. Ivy and her family scrape by through the years, documented by Ivy in a series of letters that recount a life of adventure, poverty, struggles, opportunity, and love. First published in 1988, this novel is now considered one of Smith’s best, and holds a place in the heart of many of our Nevermore readers.  MH

 

The Boy Who Talked to Dogs: A Memoir by Martin McKenna. Part memoir, part guide to the strange inner world of dogs, this non-fiction book tells McKenna’s story from the time he was growing up bullied and alone in Garryowen, Ireland. Living with ADHD that was poorly (at best) understood by those around him, at age thirteen he ran away from home and lived on the streets (and in barns, fields, etc.) with a gang of six dogs who taught him self-reliance, the value of family, and self-respect. Touching and eye-opening, this comes highly recommended by our reader, especially to anyone who has known the love of a dog.  CD

 

Dollbaby by Laura Lane McNeal. Ibby Bell’s father has just died unexpectedly. Her mother can’t cope, and drops off Ibby and her father’s urn with her eccentric grandmother in New Orleans, thousands of miles and an entire world away from her home in Olympia, Washington. Grandma Fannie is one who ends up in the nearby mental institution on a semi-regular basis, and so Ibby is taken under the wing of Queenie and Dollbaby – Fannie’s Black household helpers. Queenie and Dollbaby educate Ibby on the ways of the South in the era of Civil Rights struggles. Our reader, who grew up in the deep South, found this to be an uplifting, funny, and poignant historical novel and absolutely loved it, recommending it to anyone who has a love for Southern culture.  KN

 

The Librarian of Burned Books by Brianna Labuskes. Loosely based on the story behind the real-life Council of Books in Wartime, this historical novel follows the fates of three women whose professional and private lives are guided by the power of books. In 1933 Althea James receives an invitation from Joseph Goebbels to participate in a cultural exchange program. Once she is in Berlin, Althea begins to realize that the propaganda by her hosts does not match the reality of what is happening in Germany. Three years later in Paris, Hanna Brecht has escaped from Berlin, and is working at the German Library of Burned Books, only to find that there is no safe harbor in France. In 1944 Vivian Childs is fighting a powerful US senator over censorship and the banning of books. Vivian’s battle will bring the three women’s worlds together and expose the secrets of the recent past.  WJ

 

Also mentioned:

 

How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland’s Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe by Thomas Cahill

Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky

The Inmate by Freida McFadden

Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside by Nick Offerman

Last Things by C.P. Snow

My Dream of You by Nuala O’Faolain

Funny Farm: My Unexpected Life with 600 Rescue Animals by Laurie Zaleski

The Girls in the Snow by Stacy Green

The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson

Africatown: America’s Last Slave Ship and the Community It Created by Nick Tabor

The Great Displacement: Climate Change and the Next American Migration by Jack Bittle

Empress of the Nile: The Daredevil Archaeologist Who Saved Egypt’s Ancient Temples from Destruction by Lynn Olson

Hollywood Horrors: Murders, Scandals, and Cover-Ups from Tinseltown by Andrea Van Landingham

Reviewed by Jeanne

While the lurid title and red blaze across the cover might entice some to pick up this book, it almost had the opposite effect on me.  Pick it up I did, however, and found the contents to be (thankfully!) less sensational and more informative than I would have thought.

Van Landingham covers most of the usual cases (the Fatty Arbuckle trial, William Desmond Taylor’s murder, the Black Dahlia mystery) and tends to stick to more of “just the facts” although she does at times repeat some of the alternate theories about a case.  I liked the selected bibliography at the end and that most of the time she indicates her sources while recounting incidents.  And thank goodness there is an index!

But while many of these are tried and true cases (and not all strictly Hollywood), there were some that were new to me.  I had no idea how many of those iconic restaurants and bars who played host to Hollywood royalty were actually owned by the mob and were under the protection of the LAPD.  It certainly made me think of certain places in a different light!

I was unfamiliar with the story of Thomas Ince’s death and the part William Randolph Hearst may have played, so I found that one to be of particular interest.  Ince was an early American film maker and studio owner who, in 1924, was invited to visit Hearst’s home and yacht.  What happened next is somewhat disputed:  according to the official report, Ince had a heart attack and later died.  Rumor has it that he was shot by Heart who mistook him for Charlie Chaplin and thought he was making a pass at Marion Davies, an actress and Hearst’s long time mistress.  I was intrigued by the story and even more intrigued to learn that Patty Hearst, granddaughter of William Randolph, co-wrote a murder mystery based on Ince’s death, Murder at San Simeon.

I was also very curious how the author would deal with the Lana Turner case, which I had heard vague references to for years.  Briefly, Turner’s boyfriend was stabbed to death by Turner’s fourteen year old daughter Cheryl, though again rumors have circulated that Turner actually stabbed him and Cheryl shouldered the blame.  In this instance, the author relied heavily on Cheryl’s autobiography for the account.

Other stories include accounts of the death of Jean Harlow’s husband Paul Bern, an apparent suicide; how Robert Mitchum ended up with a record; and Errol Flynn’s trial for rape.

A few stories don’t really involve crimes, hence the “scandal” part of the title.  Most notable is the section on Elizabeth Taylor who was paralyzed in grief over the death of her husband Mike Todd. She was comforted by her best friend Debbie Reynolds’ husband, Eddie Fisher, also a good friend of Todd’s.  In fact, they so bonded over Todd’s death that Fisher left his wife and married Elizabeth.

I have to say, though, that at times I wondered about the selection process for the stories. For instance, I was surprised the story of George Reeves’ death wasn’t included.

If you are a fan of old time movies, you’ll find much to like in these pages.  The author has a good eye for detail and I especially enjoyed some of her descriptions of places—the way she contrasted Thomas Ince’s tasteful home with the extravagance of Hearst’s, for example.  She also keeps the stories brief so even if you aren’t interested in a particular one, it isn’t long before she has moved on.  This is a very entertaining book which might inspire folks to delve deeper into some of the tales presented.

Death by Smoothie by Laura Levine

 

Reviewed by Kristin

Jaine Austen (no, not that Jane Austen), can’t seem to get away from Cryptessa Muldoon. Cryptessa was the main character in an extremely short lived and mercifully cancelled sitcom entitled I Married a Zombie. The actress who played the television role used to live down the street from Jaine, until she was, umm, murdered. Jaine, freelance writer and amateur sleuth, solved that murder back in Death of a Neighborhood Witch. Realtors and buyers beware; Jaine does always seem to have trouble with neighbors.

Zombie superfans Becca and David have decided to resurrect the story on the stage, renting out an old theatre and hiring fresh actors to reprise the old TV show. They have a script, but they need a writer to make some edits….enter Jaine. Sure, she’ll be glad to take a stab at it, especially with the offered payment of $5000.

Jaine jumps in with her usual aplomb, happy to be associated with something other than her Golden Plunger award winning slogan: In a Rush to Flush? Call Toiletmasters! This is the theatre, what could possibly go wrong?

Murder. Of course.

Misty is the actress playing the stage version of Cryptessa. Pretty much everyone hates her, except director David who is besotted. Or is he? When someone spikes Misty’s daily smoothie with rat poison, suspects abound.

I had read the first dozen or so titles in this series years ago, and then sort of dropped them because my to-be-read list was just too long. I am very glad that I picked this one up because I had forgotten how laugh-out-loud funny they are. Sure, it’s slightly slapstick, but it’s clever slapstick. The cover artwork is eye catching and cute.

Also included in this outing are many emails from Jaine’s parents, each telling their side of the story as her father practices for their retirement community talent show with Iggy the iguana; a charity auction date Jaine did not mean to bid on (not to mention, win); and bestie Lance checking out the hot guys in the play and repeatedly stealing Jaine’s cinnamon raisin bagels. Can’t a woman eat breakfast in peace?

And let’s not forget Jaine’s cat: Prozac. The first sentence is in this volume is “Prozac Elizabeth Austen!” as Jaine chases her cat out the front door. Prozac is a bit of a wild child at home, but is a perfect angel around others. (Except when a neighbor’s roast chicken is involved.)

The series includes:

This Pen for Hire

Last Writes

Killer Blonde

Shoes to Die for

The PMS Murder

Death by Panty Hose

Killing Bridezilla

Killer Cruise

Death of a Trophy Wife

Pampered to Death

Death of A Neighborhood Witch

Killing Cupid

Death by Tiara

Murder Has Nine Lives

Death of a Bachelorette

Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge

Death of a Gigolo

Murder Gets a Makeover

Death by Smoothie

Her Story A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America by Charlotte S. Waisman and Jill S. Tietjen

Note: We don't have a Nevermore report today, so we thought we would share this blast from the past!  It was ten years and one day ago that we ran this review in honor of Women's History Month, written by our (then) new reference person, Kristin. 

 Reviewed by Kristin

This book provides a light overview of women who have played a role in American history.  Very well illustrated, this is the kind of book that you can read cover to cover, or just flip through and pick out interesting facts.  After a brief introduction, a timeline begins with Virginia Dare, who in 1587 was the first child of English parents to be born in the “New World.”  Finishing up the timeline is Drew Gilpin Faust, who became the first female president of Harvard University in 2007.  Along the way, the book includes well known women such as Clara Barton (famous for establishing the American Red Cross) and Lucille Ball (who doesn’t love Lucy?)

Just a few of the featured women….

• Amelia Simmons—in 1796 she published the first American cookbook.  A picture of the title page shows “American Cookery or the Art of Dressing Viands, Fish, Poultry and Vegetables, and the Best Modes of Making Pastes, Puffs, Pies, Tarts, Pudding, Custards and Preserves, and All Kinds of Cakes from the Imperial Plumb to Plain Cake Adapted to this Country and all Grades of Life.”

• Elizabeth Blackwell—she became the first American female doctor.  She was rejected by several well known schools before attending and graduating from Geneva College in New York in 1849.

• Annie Oakley—born Phoebe Ann Mosey, she became a sharpshooter in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in 1885.

• Anna Julia Cooper—published A Voice from the South: By a Woman from the South in 1892.  She was born a slave but earned a Ph.D. degree and spent her life educating African Americans.

• Dorothea Lange—in 1936 she began traveling and photographing many iconic images of Depression era people in the South.

• Wonder Woman—she may have been fictional, but she made a big splash after her introduction to the comic book world in 1941.

• Carol Burnett—this funny lady started on Broadway in Once Upon a Mattress in 1959.  She went on to her own television show known to generations of Americans.

• Joan Ganz Cooney—in 1969 she started the Children’s Television Workshop, which has brought beloved characters such as Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and Elmo to the American (and worldwide) public.

• Pleasant T. Rowland—as an entrepreneur, she started a company in 1986 to produce the historically accurate American Girl dolls.

Celebrate Women’s History Month (or celebrate women at any time of the year) by checking out this interesting book!

(Note:  Kristin is our new part time reference person.  Stop by and say hello if you have a chance!)

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

Reviewed by Ambrea

When Alex Easton receives the news their childhood friend Madeline is dying, they quickly race to the ancestral home of the Ushers to help care for her.  Madeline, however, isn’t merely “sickly.”  She’s pale and wan and positively skeletal.  Even worse, her brother, Roderick, is consumed by his own mysterious malady and appears to be losing his wits.  The ancient House of Usher, covered in mildew and mysterious mold, is practically falling down around them...and something dangerous lurks just beneath the surface of the lake.  In What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher, Edgar Allan Poe’s "Fall of the House of Usher" gets a makeover with new characters and fresh horrors.

When I first picked up Kingfisher’s short novel, I wasn’t anticipating a reboot of Poe’s classic horror story.  (As an English major and an avid reader, I’m almost ashamed to admit it took me a disproportionately long time to figure out this was actually a retelling.)  I’d really enjoyed the author’s previous work—particularly, Paladin’s Grace and Nettle and Bone—and I was captivated (and simultaneously grossed out) by the cover.  For me, these seemed like good enough reasons to pick up and give What Moves the Dead a shot. 

So, I snagged an audiobook copy from Tennessee READS and started to listen. 

Unfortunately, I wasn’t immediately hooked on the story.  I was intrigued by the descriptions—Alex, as a retired soldier, has a very interesting perspective on the world and all the horrors in it—and I liked the narrator, Avi Roque, pretty well; however, I wasn’t enthralled by the book at first.  For me, it took some time to really fall into the story, because, I suppose, it takes the author some time to properly build up the plot, cultivate the creepy atmosphere, and create a false breadcrumb trail for readers to follow.

The plot of What Moves the Dead is very twisty.  For much of the novel, I had plenty of suspicions—and plenty of questions—about what was happening, but, by the end of the story, I discovered I really had no clue.  Kingfisher wanders off the beaten path left behind by Poe.  Rather than sticking to the traditional ghost story I expected, she veers off into the weeds.  It’s still a horror novel—given what happens by the conclusion of the novel, I completely stand by that statement—but it’s not the horror story I expected, which, I think, was a good thing.

Kingfisher retells "Fall of the House of Usher", giving it a new twist I didn’t expect and fresh characters I truly enjoyed.  (I’m a big fan of Eugenia Potter, FYI.)  It’s not the best horror story I’ve ever read, but it does the genre justice and, more importantly, it’s a solid standalone novel to be enjoyed on a dark and stormy night—or a long evening folding laundry at the laundromat.

Treacherous Strand: An Inishowen Mystery by Andrea Carter

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

When the body of Marguerite Etienne washes up on a beach in Inishowen, solicitor Ben (Benedicta) O’Keeffe is troubled.  The French woman had come to Ben to make out her will not long before and knew the document had yet to be finalized.  Marguerite was determined to leave everything to her daughter. Unfortunately, the rules of client-solicitor confidentiality still apply so when sergeant Tom Molloy believes that Marguerite died by suicide, Ben can’t reveal the reasons she is certain that the woman was murdered. 

But she is certain.  And she intends to find the evidence to prove it.

This is the second in the Inishowen mysteries, but it can be read as a standalone.  For those like me who are a little sketchy on geography, Inishowen is in County Donegal in the northern part of Ireland and is a part of the Republic of Ireland. Author Carter, herself a solicitor, worked in Inishowen for several years.  All this is to say that she knows the territory well, both the physical location (which sounds lovely and wild) and the ins and outs of working there.  A number of the mysteries I’ve read that use Ireland as a location are written by Americans and while I hope they have done their research, I sometimes question a point or two. In these books I have no doubt that the author knows what she is writing about.

The mystery is well done; the plot is interesting and the reader shares Ben’s frustrations at not being able to reveal what she knows. However, the real appeal for me is the well-developed characters and strong setting.  Ben has a lot of baggage from the past; sometimes she deals with it better than other times.  She’s wary of forming relationships but is drawn to Malloy. Other characters are similarly nuanced.

The setting is well defined and distinctly Irish, all the while avoiding stereotypes. While some Irish expressions and phrasing appear occasionally, it isn’t laid on with a trowel, and the conversations are not written in dialect.

I’m definitely interested in reading more in this series, having enjoyed the first two.  It seems to me that I can see Carter’s confidence as a writer growing between the books, so I have high hopes as we move forward.

The books in the series are:

Murder at Whitewater Church

Treacherous Strand

Well of Ice

Murder at Greysbridge

The Body Falls

Nevermore: And Finally: Matters of Life and Death, The Lowlan, Funny Farm: My Unexpected Life with 600 Rescue Animals, Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World

 

Reported by Garry

 

And Finally: Matters of Life and Death by Henry Marsh. A few weeks ago, another reader read Do No Harm by the same author. In this follow-up, Dr. Marsh is dealing with advanced prostate cancer, which he expects to be fatal. (Spoiler alert: He survives.) During his treatment, and faced with what he believes will be the end of his life, Marsh looks back on his career with clarity and humility. One of the leading neurosurgeons in the UK, Marsh now finds himself on the receiving end of the medical system in which he has spent his entire professional career.  DC

 

The Lowland is the multiple award winning novel by Jhumpa Lahiri. Spanning 50 years and two continents, this ambitious novel with what our reader describes as “the most beautiful prose I have ever read” follows the lives and fortunes of two brothers – Subhash and Udayan. Born only 15 months apart, and with wildly different temperaments, one brother becomes a revolutionary while the other becomes an academic. When tragedy strikes Udayan, Suhash must step in and save Udayan’s widow – even if it means going up against his family and generations of strict social traditions.  NH

 

Funny Farm: My Unexpected Life with 600 Rescue Animals by Laurie Zaleski. Fleeing an abusive marriage with only her clothes and her three children, Annie McNulty settled in an abandoned farmstead with little to her name but an unending supply of kindness. Annie started taking in abandoned and unwanted animals, and soon the farm grew to hold more than 600 animals. This delightful book is written by Annie’s daughter, Laurie, and tells not only Annie’s story, but Laurie’s, and the stories of many animals that the mother and daughter team rescued along the way.  KM

 

Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky is a fascinating look at the fish at the center of much of human history. Cod enabled the Vikings to travel the Atlantic and settle in the New World. It sustained many Europeans during the medieval times as there are cod stocks in various parts of the Atlantic Ocean as well as the Baltic Sea. Cod fishing endured even beyond the Black Death years and remains an important part of the Norwegian fish trade. Our reader states that this book is excellently written (as is anything by Kurlansky) and recommends it for anyone who has an interest not only in world history but the natural world.  CD

 

Also mentioned:

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Whale Day and Other Poems by Billy Collins

Little Heathens:  Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish

Mountain Sisters: From Convent to Community in Appalachia by Helen M. Lewis

Lessons from the Edge: A Memoir by Marie Yovanovitch

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano

Ice Palace by Edna Ferber

The Dechronization of Sam Magruder by George Gaylord Simpson

Night Shift by Robin Cook

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century by Timothy Snyder

Southernmost by Silas House

Reviewed by Ashley

Set shortly after the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage, when some counties were still refusing to issue marriage licenses for same sex couples, Southernmost introduces us to Asher Sharp, an evangelical pastor.

The book opens with a flood, and we are quickly introduced to Asher as his priorities are laid out. First, save his mother-in-law, who has always been more like a mother to him than his own. Up next, he goes looking for his dog, likely separated from home by the river that rose so suddenly. When his son goes looking for their dog and disappears, Asher’s anxiety reaches a peak, and we know what his ultimate love in life is: his son. He finds his son, helping and being helped by two men who have recently moved into their small town in middle Tennessee, whose house he watched wash away just hours earlier. The men assist Asher when another house sweeps by, two members of his congregation hanging out of a window and calling for help.

Asher takes in the devastation around him and knows that his view of the world is expanding beyond the narrow views he has preached for years.

When he watches his wife turn away the two men who helped his son because she doesn’t agree with their lifestyle, he knows his faith has changed. When he listens to his congregation turn away the two men who risked their own lives to pull some of them from that raging river, solely because the men love each other, he knows his faith has changed. When he faces the guilt he has lived with for years over how he and his mother treated his brother for that same sort of love, he knows his faith has changed.

The divorce is ugly, the custody battle is bitter, and the aftermath leaves him reaching for a new life altogether. He abandons everything he knows, the world he grew up in, and uses the upheaval to take his son and see what else is out there. Following the postcards his brother has sent him over the years- never with a written message, but leading him to writings that have helped him expand his views on the world, they land in Key West.

What follows is a story about a man struggling to understand how to adjust to a world that has moved on without him, learning what it means to grow faster than those you love but slower than society has grown. With a dash of found family and a considerable amount of character growth, Southernmost explores what it means to watch our beliefs change. It examines the things we hold dear and believe in, the things we would do absolutely anything for, and the mistakes we make in trying to stand firm in our faiths. Southernmost asks us to examine our actions and live with the consequences, no matter the outcome.

While I would have loved it if the book had spent more time in Key West or delving into the found family aspect of the story, I absolutely understood that these things weren’t the focus of the book. I did feel the ending was almost rushed, compared to the rest of the book, but honestly, I’m glad that the ending seemed to move as quickly as the flood that opened the book, reflecting the speed at which our lives can change not just from natural disasters, but also through our own decisions and actions.

I checked this book out on a whim, thinking I’d try a few chapters and move on, but instead found myself devouring it in mere hours. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever questioned their beliefs or felt like they’ve outgrown the things they once held true, to anyone who has ever looked at their decisions and been tempted to run away from their problems rather than face them.

Failure Is An Option: An Attempted Memoir by H. Jon Benjamin

 

Reviewed by Kristin

H. Jon Benjamin set out to write about his many failures. This is perhaps the one thing at which he was successful. His chapter titles spell out how he failed in childhood and his teen years, then moved on to failing in adulthood. He writes about failing in tying knots in Cub Scouts. He writes about failing to be cool because he liked disco. He writes about his bar mitzvah, and how even the disco ball was a failure when the DJ hired by his parents began to play Tony Bennett and Nat King Cole.

In this review I think I have established that Benjamin is telling us about his failures. But then he gets into some of his more personal and intimate failures and it just got a little…weird. Moving beyond the wide open window he opened into his failed sexual escapades, he also failed at a college degree in Holocaust studies, and failed to sell a sit-com pilot, and failed in his use of a whole list of pickup lines as well.

Somewhere around this point, I decided to start skimming the rest of the book. I don’t think I missed much. Some of the first few bits were funny, but they became repetitive all too quickly.

Benjamin may be some people’s favorite actor, comedian, and writer. But I must say that he isn’t mine. He is known for his voice roles in several adult animated series, such as Sterling Archer in Archer, Bob Belcher in Bob’s Burgers, and Carl in Family Guy. However, I haven’t watched any of those shows. He may be a really funny guy, but this self-proclaimed “attempted memoir” fell a little flat for me.

Actually, I enjoyed watching Benjamin in the Star Trek: Short Treks episode “The Trouble with Edward”. This is how I became aware of him and decided to seek out this book. He is so good at playing an inept starship scientist that I thought a self-deprecating memoir might be funny. (As stated above, I was wrong.) But if you have access to Paramount Plus or some other way to watch this short episode, please do. Benjamin plays a scientist on a Star Trek research ship where his experiment gets a little out of control. The Tribbles backstory is expanded here, and fits perfectly into the Star Trek canon regarding Klingons hating the constantly reproducing little fur balls. As Edward’s captain sits before a governing board trying to explain how her first mission resulted in such chaos and how it was all the fault of one crew member, she simply says, “He was an idiot.”

Nevermore: Demon Copperhead, Lessons from the Edge, Lessons in Chemistry, Birdseye

 

Reported by Kristin

Our first Nevermore member picked up Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, noting that she was only on page 79 after hours and hours of reading. The young boy who is the titular character has such a dysfunctional family that our reader felt very protective of him, and wishes that she could have been his foster parent. Demon’s father has everyone snowed even though he’s a terrible person, and Demon grows up in a very difficult situation. Despite the rough going, our reader hopes to make it through the 600+ pages of the book from this Southwest Virginia author, especially since the characters are so well developed.

 

Lessons from the Edge by Marie Yovanovich intrigued another reader, as this memoir is by the former United States Ambassador to Ukraine. Yovanovich writes about the extreme corruption that ran rampant through the government. She does have optimism that Volodymyr Zelensky, the president since 2019, can strengthen the integrity of the country and improve worldwide relationships. Our reader states that Yovanovich writes very well on such important and timely topics.

Another “Lesson” title came in much lighter but also highly praised: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. Touted as a feminist fairy tale, this popular novel features Elizabeth Zott, a female scientist in the 1960s who isn’t taken very seriously and ends up running a cooking show. Cooking is chemistry, after all. Our reader said that this was another bit of brain candy where the bad guys are bad, the heroine is good, and justice is served in the end, making this a fully satisfying read. 

Another reader was fascinated by Birdseye: The Adventures of a Curious Man by Mark Kurlansky, the first biography of Clarence Birdseye, known as the “father of frozen food”. Birdseye invented a process for freezing food on a large scale, which could then be distributed and sold to households all over the country. According to our reader, Birdseye was a highly inventive man and once he registered a patent for an invention, he sold it and happily moved on to his next project. Our reader “loved it!”

Also mentioned:

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

Whale Day: And Other Poems by Billy Collins

Dogfight by Calvin Trillin

Last Things by C.P. Snow

My Dream of You by Nuala O’Faolain

Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo

The Bone Yard by Jefferson Bass

All the Broken Places by John Boyne

3 books in Maisy Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear

Night Shift by Robin Cook

Booked: A Traveler's Guide to Literary Locations Around the World by Richard Kreitner

Wonders in the Sky: Unexplained Aerial Objects from Antiquity to Modern Times by Jacques Vallee and Chris Aubeck

Spare by Prince Harry The Duke of Sussex

The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood

Midnight at the Blackbird Café by Heather Webber

Finlay Donovan is Killing it by Elle Cosimano

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

It’s not bad enough that her two year old is covered syrup and his slightly older sister has decided to cut her hair just before pre-school.  It’s not bad enough that the baby-sitter hasn’t turned up when Finlay is scheduled to meet with her agent about the book she’s supposed to be writing but – spoiler alert!—hasn’t.  It’s not bad enough that all the bills are due, her ex-husband’s fiancée got half of Finlay’s book advance just because Finlay stuck a little playdoh in her car’s tail-pipe, and Finlay is actually banned from the place she’s supposed to meet her agent so she’s going to have to wear a disguise.  No, it’s bad because the woman at the next table overhears the conversation between Finlay and her agent about the book and thinks Finlay is a hit woman for hire. The next thing Finlay knows, she has an offer to kill a guy for $50,000.

Not that she’d ever do it, of course, and she wouldn’t know how to go about it even if she wanted to, but she should at least go take a look at the guy, right?  Just get an idea of how awful he is.

She soon discovers the answer is really, really awful. REALLY.  She isn’t going to kill him, but she IS going to make it harder for him to do what he’s planning. And, well, things just get out of control.

I had heard how funny this book was and it is that.  Finlay is a delightful creation, a loving mom determined to keep her children even as the electricity goes off because she didn’t pay the bill. She’s an author with a cheating ex who is trying to make everything her fault and who belittles her career. She just wants to get her life back on track—is that so wrong? I could certainly empathize with her.  There’s a wonderful cast of supporting characters, from Vero the nanny studying to be an accountant who can size up a situation and take action before most people could even realize what was happening to four year old Delia who likes to proclaim that “Daddy could fix it” to the handsome police detective who is investigating some suspicious activity.  I found myself rooting for most of the characters (but certainly not the rotten ex, Steven) and hoping all would turn out well in the end.

This book is quite the ride and I laughed a lot. Even better, there are two sequels.  I can hardly wait to see who Finlay is going to try to not kill next.

The books in order are:

Finlay Donovan Is Killing It

Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun

Observations by Gaslight: Stories from the World of Sherlock Holmes by Lyndsay Faye

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Faye uses the now near-standard Sherlockian premise of a box of papers tucked away and newly discovered that contain new tales of the Great Detective.  The twist this time is that, instead of a trove of Watson’s writings, this collection has been written by a number of people who knew Holmes and give their own impressions of the man as they relate their tales.  This has the novelty of presenting several different views of Holmes all under the same cover.  Most of the stories are told by minor characters from the canon: Irene Adler, Wiggins of the Baker Street Irregulars, Mrs. Hudson, etc.

I was very much taken with this collection. The stories have a very strong sense of place, that place being the London of the Victorian era. There’s elegance and grime, fog and chill. The stories are in some ways character studies of their narrators, with Holmes playing a greater or lesser role depending on the individual.  In “The Song of a Want,” for example, a young solicitor named Wiggins looks back on his days eking out a living with his best friend Meggie. Cold, starving, and always in danger, Wiggins meets an extraordinary man who comes to their rescue.  An irate Inspector Lestrade grouses and grumbles but when a young woman entreats his aid to look for her missing sister, he may just have to get a little help from a vexing, know-it-all consulting detective. Of course, a certain Irene Adler makes an appearance as well. . . .

The writing is excellent, and I enjoyed seeing Holmes through the perception of a number of different people, not just the admiring Watson.  I confess some pastiches of Doyle’s work have left me unsatisfied, either being too worshipful or clichéd, but these six stories seemed fresh and alive to me.

Faye has written several historical novels, including a Sherlock Holmes, but also a series set in New York City in the mid-1800s. She is also the author of Jane Steele, a darkly humorous take on Jane Eyre. Faye has been nominated for several awards, including an Edgar.

Nevermore: Friends Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, How to Kill Your Family, Wesley the Owl

 

Reported by Garry

 

Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing: A Memoir by Matthew Perry is a frank, darkly hilarious look at life by one of the stars of the most watched television series of the past 30 years. Born in Massachusetts and raised in Canada and Los Angeles, Matthew Perry was a nationally ranked teenaged tennis star before getting bit by the acting bug, and eventually found himself on the set of Friends – the blockbuster show that would define his acting career. Along the way, Perry became addicted to drugs – an addiction that he speaks about with candor in this memoir. Our reader said that Perry’s book was a real eye-opener, and that she now knows much more about the addiction process than she ever had previously.

 

How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie. Grace is in jail for murder, and she has murdered people, just not the one of which she is accused. Grace discovered that her previously unknown millionaire father rejected her dying mother’s pleas for help, and vowed revenge against not only him, but every other member of his family, one by one – which she does. Gleefully. Our reader says that this book is both dark and very funny, and recommends it to anyone who has a dark sense of humor and likes books along the lines of Villanelle (the basis for the Killing Eve TV series) and My Sister, the Serial Killer.

 

Wesley The Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl by Stacey O’Brien is the heart-touching true story of Wesley, a barn owl and the human that raised him. Wesley was born with nerve damage to his wing and would never be able to survive in the wild. He was “adopted” by O’Brien, a trained biologist. The two spent an astonishing 19 years together, time which was documented by O’Brien with copious notes and photographs. Over the years, O’Brien got to know Wesley’s personality (he wouldn’t tolerate lies), his quirks (he also wouldn’t tolerate any of O’Brien’s would-be suitors), and how deeply intelligent and sensitive this bird of prey is.

 

Also mentioned:

 

Murder She Wrote series by Jessica Fletcher (and various authors)

The Good Sister by Gillian McAllister

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Life Travel and the People in Between by Mike Nixon

John Vance Journal

Whale Day: And Other Poems by Billy Collins

The Paris Seamstress by Natasha Lester

Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo

Just As I Am: A Memoir by Cicely Tyson

Lessons in Chemistry By Bonnie Garmus

My Dream of You by Nuala O’Faolain

Southernmost by Silas House

Tales from the Café: Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

The Lady Sherlock series by Sherry Thomas

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

Eat and Flourish: How Food Supports Emotional Well-Being by Mary Beth Albright