New Books Due Out in June!

Summer is a great time to read, so you can usually count on lots of new titles coming out!  Here are some of the ones we are looking forward to reading:

 

New in June!

Allende, Isabel The Wind Knows My Name

Bartz, Andrea  The Spare Room

Benedict, Marie The First Ladies

Berry, Steve  The Ninth Man

Clarke, Amy Suiter Lay Your Body Down

Connealy, Mary  The Laws of Attraction

Cosby, S.A.  All the Sinners Bleed

Davis, Fiona  The Spectacular

De Los Santos, Marisa  Watch Us Shine

Doiron, Paul  Dead Man’s Wake (Mike Bowditch)

Frank, Victoria Benton My Magnolia Summer

Gaylin, Alison  Robert B. Parker’s Bad Influence (Sunny Randall)

Graham, Heather  Whispers at Dusk

Harmel, Kristin  The Paris Daughter

Higgins, Kristan  A Little Ray of Sunshine

Hilderbrand, Elin  Five-Star Weekend

James, Miranda  Hiss Me Deadly

Jackson, Lisa The Last Sinner

Johansen, Iris The Survivor (Eve Duncan)

Maden, Mike  Clive Cussler Fire Strike

Mallery, Susan  The Happiness Plan

Patrick, Phaedra  The Little Italian Hotel

Patterson, James  Cross Down (Alex Cross & John Sampson)

Patterson, James  Private Moscow

Quirk, Matthew  Inside Threat

Sanderson, Brandon The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England

See, Lisa  Lady Tan’s Circle of Women

Smiley, Jane The Questions That Matter Most: Reading, Writing, and the Exercise of Freedom (essays)

Taylor, Sarah Stewart A Stolen Child (Maggie d’Arcy Mystery)

Ware, Ruth  Zero Days

Wiggs, Susan  Welcome to Beach Town

Williams, Beatriz  The Beach at Summerly

Willis, Connie  The Road to Roswell

Woods, Stuart  Near Miss

Decoration Day in the Mountains by Alan Jabbour and Karen Singer Jabbour

  

Reviewed by Jeanne

Note: This is a review from some years ago, but I always think of this book when Memorial Day rolls around. 

For many years I assumed that everyone went to the family graveyard over Memorial Day weekend to decorate the graves of family and friends. Many families would gather en masse to clean the cemetery and have dinner on the ground. Family members who lived out of the area were at least expected to send flowers; families who graves left unadorned after the holiday were the subject of gossip. I remembered hearing too that Memorial Day was the modern name; earlier it was called Decoration Day and that flowers were homemade from crepe paper.

Family graveyards still exist, but as families move away from the traditional "homeplace" and descendants scatter more and more people are opting for perpetual care cemeteries. These cemeteries are owned by companies which will see to it that the graves are properly maintained, relieving family members of the burden. Along with this trend,   I've been seeing fewer grave decorations when I make the trek back to my home county these past few years. More and more people in the area see Memorial Day more as the start to summer than a day to remember the past.

Recently I heard a radio interview about a new book called Decoration Day in the Mountains by Alan Jabbour & Karen Singer Jabbour which discusses this very topic. Although the particular area they surveyed was in North Carolina, many of the things they discuss are customs similar to the ones I knew. They include Church Homecomings, grave inscriptions and decorations,  This book describes the history and culture surrounding the day, including photographs and interviews.  It's a fascinating look at a way of life which is fast disappearing along with the family graveyards. It's a lovely piece of nostalgia for those who remember, and a wonderful introduction to those who don't.

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

The book opens with a friendly fan letter to Hannah, an Australian author, from Leo, a would-be writer who lives in Boston.  The two have apparently been corresponding for some time, and he hopes to visit her in a few months.

The next section introduces Freddie—short for Winifred—a young Australian author who has a fellowship that allows her to come to Boston to write her novel.  She’s in the Reading Room of the Boston Public Library, sitting at a table with three strangers, when they all hear a woman scream.  Security swoops in, and after a check, assures everyone that it was a false alarm.  The three strangers, bonded by the shared experience, exchange names and begin talking. It turns out they are all writers of one sort or another. Things take a darker turn when, some hours later, Freddie hears on the news that the body of a woman has been found at the library.

This is followed by a letter from Leo, excitedly discussing the chapter of Hannah’s new book set in Boston and offering her his insights and insider information about the city that she can use in her novel.

It sounds very confusing but it isn’t, really.  I have been telling people that it’s like having a picture of a woman looking at a picture of a woman looking at a picture. It’s well written, keeping the reader involved in both storylines, and there are some wonderful twists and turns as the stories go along. While at first I found it a bit distracting to be pulled out of Hannah’s novel into a different reality, I admire the way the author shows you some of the tricks of her trade, all the while having another card up her sleeve.

There’s a good sense of place and well defined characters along with the fine writing. It’s almost as if the reader is getting a peek behind the scenes at how an author works along with a very intriguing storyline. One reviewer compared it to the unpeeling the layers of an onion, and I would agree. The book is very well paced, enticing the reader to keep those pages turning to see how the plots will be resolved.  

Nevermore: Guns of August, Joan Rivers Confidential, Best Minds, Boneheap in the Lion's Den

 

Reported by Garry

The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman recounts in impeccably researched details the outbreak of World War I, its first thirty days, and the lasting effects of the conflict on the modern world. Until the Great War, wars had been generally regional and of limited scope – that all changed in the summer of 1914 when Germany invaded Belgium and ended four years later with the deaths of 20 million and the maps of Europe and the Middle-East permanently redrawn. This Pulitzer Prize winning look at one of the most consequential conflicts of the last century is a fascinating and engaging read, and one that will leave you with a greater understanding of why our world looks the way it does today.  AH

 

Joan Rivers Confidential: The Unseen Scrapbooks, Joke Cards, Personal Files, and Photos of a Very Funny Woman Who Kept Everything by Melissa Rivers. Our reader loved Joan Rivers before reading this book, and loves her even more now. Famous as a trailblazing comedienne, Rivers was also a brilliant executive who kept immaculate records of everything from the reactions to jokes to exchanges with fans. Author Melissa Rivers is Joan’s daughter, and covers Joan’s career from the late 1950s until her sudden death in 2014.  KM

 

The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions by Jonathan Rosen is a heart-wrenching and unflinching memoir about mental illness and the wake of tragedy it can leave. Rosen was childhood friends with Michael Laudor, a brilliant, charismatic young man who finished his college degree in three years and then graduated from Yale Law School. Laudor was schizophrenic and during a severe paranoid psychotic break, stabbed his pregnant girlfriend to death with a kitchen knife. As tragic as it is, our reader says that this is an absolutely fantastic book that she could not put down. DC

 

The Boneheap in the Lion’s Den by Maya J. Sorini is a book of poetry, portraying the author’s harrowing time working in the trauma ward of one of St. Louis’ largest hospitals. Sorini never flinches away from the horrors of the ward, and her poems take the reader along for a blood-soaked ride. Sorini’s poetry shares her own trauma and is some of the most wonderful poetry our reader has ever read – in fact, she read this slender book three times over!  PP

 

Also mentioned:

 

The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn

Clay’s Quilt by Silas House

The Dutch Orphan by Ellen Keith

The Chain by Adrian McKinty

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli

Jackal by Erin E. Adams

Uncanny Times by Laura Anne Gilman

Run Rose Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson

Thunder Dog:  The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust by Michael Hingson and Susy Flory

 

New Books:

 

The Last Castle: The Epic Story of Love, Loss, and American Royalty in the Nation's Largest Home by Denise Kiernan

Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic by Simon Winchester

The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry

Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman

Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho by Paterson Joseph

Shadow in the Glass by M.E. Hilliard

Reviewed by Jeanne

Librarian Greer Hogan, fortified by successfully discovering a murderer in An Unkindness of Ravens, is now ready to start working on a mystery in her own life.  Her husband Danny was murdered and while a man was tried and convicted for the crime, Greer believes he was innocent.  An invitation to the wedding of an old friend will bring Greer back in contact with people from the couple’s past—people who may have some answers or at least help her to find the questions to be answered.

This quest is derailed when one of the guests turns up dead under suspicious circumstances, and Greer finds herself dealing with more than one mystery.

Having loved the first book, I was anxious to read the next in the series.  I was glad to find many of the features I loved showing up in the second book.  First and foremost is Greer herself: she’s no flighty heroine, rushing into trouble. I think of her as one of the few grown-ups in the contemporary cozy scene.  She thinks things through rationally and goes prepared. For example, after her previous experience, she’s begun exercising and training in case she finds herself in another physical altercation. She’s honest with herself. Her marriage was not perfect, and she doesn’t put her late husband on a pedestal. She’s not desperately looking for a new relationship, either. She’s comfortable with who she is. Of course, she is a reader and offers a number of literary references, but these never come off as an in-joke or an attempt to one-up the reader. It’s more like the way readers talk to each other and I love it.

In general, the other characters are fully realized people, with different facets to their personalities. There’s also a good sense of place, which I appreciate.

If I have a criticism, it’s that dealing with two very different crimes can be a bit frustrating. As a reader, I was more invested in Danny’s murder than that of the wedding guest and was more anxious for Greer to pursue those clues. Still, this is an excellent second book in a series and I very much look forward to reading Three Can Keep a Secret which came out in February, 2023.

While Danny’s murder is first brought up in the first book, you do not have to read them in order. The author fills in the background information if you start with the second while not giving away the plot or solution of the mystery in the first book.

Brilliant Maps for Curious Minds: 100 New Ways to See the World by Ian Wright

Reviewed by Kristin

You know those online “articles” which promise to show you “40+ Unusual and Fascinating (fill in the blank here)” and tease you with some interesting image at the very top that you have to scroll through or click through way more than 40 entries and you end up forgetting why you wanted to read the article in the first place….?

Yeah, I’m a sucker for those.

Inevitably, the online article goes to some ad, or the browser crashes, or I finally decide I shouldn’t be giving these shady websites the clicks they desire. I really try to resist clicking them, because I don’t actually want to waste my time reading something that was compiled by someone who barely knows the difference between “there”, “they’re” and “their”. So, I was extremely happy to find this book in the Young Adult section.

Bonus: no ads!

I am a map person. I like seeing how the world is laid out. Even when I was a kid I loved reading my social studies textbook to see which countries produced what kinds of grain, who had nuclear weapons, and who had the largest gross domestic products (GDP) of any number of things. I am still fascinated by the fact that the standard Mercator projection map does not realistically portray the size of the areas anywhere other than very near the equator.

Oh yes, back to the book at hand.

This book includes nine chapters titled: People and Populations; Politics, Power, and Religion; Culture and Customs; Friends and Enemies; Geography; History; National Identity; Crime and Punishment; and Nature.

Do you want to know the average person’s height in a specific country? Which countries have preferences for cats or dogs? Which type of electrical outlet can you expect to find when you are traveling to a foreign country? Which countries have no rivers? Which countries have no McDonalds? Which 22 counties has the United Kingdom not invaded? How many heavy metal bands per 100,000 of population? All the sharks killed by humans vs all the humans killed by sharks (in 2017)? Which countries have economies larger than California? (Spoiler alert, only a few.)

This is the kind of information that I like to have tumbling around in my brain. I might have very few instances in which I need this information, but it is pleasant background noise as I go about my everyday life. And, pages 108-109 do a decent job of showing the actual relative sizes of countries vs. how they are shown on a Mercator projection map.

Intrigued? Find this book (with no ads) at YA 912 WRI.

Nevermore: Soul of an Octopus, One of Us Is Lying, Girl Called Samson

 

Reported by Garry

 

Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery – A favorite of our Nevermore group, this book follows Montgomery as she travels the world learning about the variety and astounding nature of these eight armed creatures. Highly intelligent, able to teach each other, and capable of changing not only the color but texture of their skin, octopuses are amazing creatures that are seem out of this worldly alien when compared with humans. Our reader loved this slim volume, and many of our group heartily recommend it.  KM

 

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus. Labelled as The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars, this murder mystery revolves around five high-school students: Bronwyn, Addy, Nate, Cooper, and Simon who are all in detention for various reasons. One winds up dead, and suspicion quickly falls on the remaining four students, whose lives are far more intertwined than initially apparent, with secrets to kill (or die) for. This YA novel delivers excitement and thrills, and comes highly recommended by our reader.  MP

 

A Girl Called Samson by Amy Harmon is a historical novel based in Massachusetts in the 1760s. Deborah Samson is bound out as an indentured servant when she is still a young girl, and when the US Civil War breaks out, she escapes, disguises herself as a man, and joins the Continental army. Facing the horrors of war and revolution, Deborah (who used her last name as her first), also discovers love and truths about herself. Fictionalized from real-life events, this novel captured our reader’s imagination and made her value the lives and contributions of women of the era even more.  AH

 

Also Mentioned:

 

Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro

Monticello: A Daughter and Her Father by Sally Cabot Gunning

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

Hugh Glass by Bruce Bradley

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

Clay's Quilt by Silas House

The Magic Kingdom by Russell Banks

The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman

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

Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World by Malcolm Harris

Smithsonian American Table: The Foods, People and Innovations That Feed Us by The Smithsonian Institution

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan

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

Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder

The House Is On Fire by Rachel Beanland

Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash

 

New books:

 

The Golden Doves by Martha Hall Kelly

The Dutch Orphan by Ellen Keith

The Cuban Heiress by Chanel Cleeton

Things I Wish I Told My Mother by Susan Patterson and Susan DiLallo with James Patterson

Fellowship Point by Alice Elliot Dark

Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues by Jonathan Kennedy

The Stranger Vanishes by Wendy Corsi Staub

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

After a year of living in Lily Dale, the town devoted to connecting to the afterlife, widow Bella Jordan has a cautious approach to the supernatural. She’s not a believer, but there have been some occurrences that seem to defy rational explanation. Still, when a man in 19^th century clothing takes a room for the night and then vanishes, she resists the idea that she’s been visited by a ghost. Surely there is some rational explanation. . . .

This was my fifth visit to Lily Dale in the company of Bella, her son Max, and the other inhabitants of the town.  Obviously, I must enjoy the books or I wouldn’t keep coming back!  I first encountered Lily Dale as part of this series and have gone on to read a non-fiction book about this intriguing town.  According to Wikipedia, the year-round residents number 275, while during the tourist season thousands will visit for psychic readings, workshops, séances, and other paranormal activities.

Staub’s series tries to walk a line between skepticism, as personified by the still grieving Bella, and belief.  Bella’s friends are all believers, but not all are gifted—at least not reliably so. The annoying Pandora does seem to have occasional flashes of insight, for example, but many of her proclamations seem more self-serving than Spirit. Jiffy, a young friend of Max’s, personifies the expression “out of the mouths of babes” in his off-hand comments that often prove true. Jiffy and Max in particular are delightful and very believable creations; they’re just at the age where wordplay is immense fun.

The books have a leisurely pace to them, and are told mostly from Bella’s point of view. Despite the supernatural setting, the books aren’t especially creepy or spooky; instead there’s a more thoughtful, measured approach.  There is a decent mystery, but for the most part I find them to be meditations on life and afterlife peopled by friendly characters and some lovely cats.  I quite enjoy my visits.

While they don’t have to be read in order, it sometimes helps to know a bit of the different characters’ backstories. The books in order are:

Nine Lives

Something Buried, Something Blue

Dead of Winter

Prose and Cons

The Stranger Vanishes

Seances are for Suckers by Tamara Berry

Reviewed by Jeanne

Eleanor Wilde, better known as Madame Eleanor in certain circles, specializes in exorcising ghosts which she does without compunction because she doesn’t believe in them. She does believe in squirrels in the attic, loose floorboards, and overactive imaginations, all of which help her earn enough money to pay for her comatose sister’s care.  While she doesn’t have psychic abilities, she does have an amazing ability to read people and to rapidly assess situations so that it seems she is attuned to the Other Side.  She’s also a bit prickly and a lot cynical.

So is Nicholas Hartford III, which makes it surprising that he wants to hire her to clear a ghost out of his manor house in England.  He doesn’t believe in ghosts any more than she does, but there is something going on and he wants to get to the bottom of it. He believes Eleanor is just the person to do that.

Wary but intrigued, and with the promise of generous payment, Eleanor agrees.  She quickly sees that there is mischief afoot, and is attempting to figure out the responsible party when she finds a dead body which promptly vanishes before she can show it to anyone else. Eleanor knows she wasn’t dreaming, and she knows that the stakes have now turned deadly. The problem is convincing anyone else of that.

I decided to give this series a try after reading and enjoying another series by Berry.  I found Eleanor to be a refreshing heroine, resourceful, quick-witted, brave, and devoted to her sister.  She also has a brother, Liam, who deeply disapproves of the way she earns her money, but who is struggling financially himself. The other in the cast are also memorable, including Nicholas who watches Eleanor’s efforts with mocking amusement; his mother Vivian who is as lively as a woman half her age but who believes in extreme frugality; and niece Rachel, a bright and cheerful young lady who is quite impressed with Madame Eleanor.  There’s a bit of humor, a good plot, and a strong sense of place. This made a refreshing change from some of the very cozy mysteries I had been reading, and I liked the characters so much that I’m anxious to follow the rest of their adventures. There are four books in the series, and –alas!—it appears there will be no more, so I’ll just enjoy these.

The books in order are:

Seances are for Suckers

Potions are for Pushovers

Curses are for Cads

Nevermore: Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Pathogenesis, Had I Known, The Winners

 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon was the first book discussed at this week’s meeting of the Nevermore Book Club.  Autistic fifteen year old Christopher is an admirer of Sherlock Holmes, so when he finds the body of a neighbor’s dog he is determined to discover who killed the poodle. The story is told from Christopher’s point of view as he struggles to both solve the mystery and to navigate the confusing world around him. Our reviewer enjoyed the book, calling it light and fun. (DC)

The next book up dealt with the way that disease has shaped human history.  Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues by Jonathan Kennedy begins in the Paleolithic era, then continues through to modern day.  Our reviewer was less interested in the prehistoric aspect so she moved ahead to the Revolutionary period to determine how military operations were affected by various diseases including malaria and dysentery. Other categories included Neolithic Plagues, Ancient Plagues, Medieval Plagues, Colonial Plagues, Industrial Plagues, and Plagues of Poverty.  She found it very interesting and insightful, noting how public health contributes to the public good. Never underestimate the power of microbiology! (KM)

Barbara Ehrenreich’s books have won praise from Nevermore readers before, so it was no surprise to hear a recommendation for Had I Known: Collected Essays. The subjects are wide ranging, and the essays gathered from a variety of sources: The New York Times, New Republic, blog posts, op-eds, and more. It was highly recommended by our reader.  (CD)

The Winners by Fredrik Backman is the third in a series set in Beartown, a small town whose identity is tied up in its hockey team.  Beartown is a blue-collar town struggling to survive.  Having a winning team would not only be a source of pride, but would bring in more resources.  Their arch-rival is a town called Hed, which is competing for the same resources.  In this third book, a violent storm has left both communities in disarray.  Our reader had read and thoroughly enjoyed the first two books, Beartown and Us Against You, but felt this third entry could have been pared down from its 800+ pages.  She is determined to finish it, however! (MA)

Other titles:

The Saints of Swallow Hill  by Donna Everhart

Lone Women by Victor LaValle

Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro

The Cuban Heiress by Chanel Cleeton

Rabbit, Run by John Updike

Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen

Brothers and Sisters of Byland Crescent  by Bill Kitson

Time Traveled:  Memory Road Trip Series by Krista Marson

Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

 

Reviewed by Kristin

Marcellus the giant Pacific Octopus begins his narrative with “Day 1,299 of My Captivity…” setting the tone for his perception of the state of affairs at the Sowell Bay Aquarium on Puget Sound. Marcellus was captured as a juvenile, and he has learned that his kind only live 3-5 years (1095-1460 days), so he assumes that he has maybe 160 days left, give or take. He is, after all, a very intelligent and methodical creature. Marcellus likes to stretch his limits, but he is very aware of “The Consequences” of poking his tentacles into forbidden areas.

Tova Sullivan recently lost her husband, and began working at the aquarium as a night cleaner just to fill the hours. Tova takes great pride in her work, eschewing the industrial cleaners for her homemade vinegar and lemon oil mixture. Thousands of little hands and feet dirty the glass and the floors of the aquarium every week, and Tova wipes away every trace of dirt, even in little seen corners and behind statues. She may be over seventy and tiny, but Tova would rather die than to do less than her best.

Cameron Cassmore has been told all his life that he’s a screw up. Sure, he keeps getting fired from jobs, but it’s really not fair that his boss got that mad when he was only ten minutes late. His Aunt Jeanne has his back, but it seems like nobody else in the world does. When he has a chance to finally find his father, a man he assumed just didn’t exist for the last thirty years, he has to take a leap.

These three unlikely characters connect in ways I did not expect. Tova is friendly to all the aquarium creatures, saying “Hello, dears!” to the eels and the sharks, but it is Marcellus who actually understands her, though of course she doesn’t fully comprehend. Cameron drives into Sowell Bay in a decrepit camper he bought along the way and stumbles into a part time job at the aquarium. Marcellus, Tova, and Cameron may differ wildly from each other in age and life experiences, but their stories are interwoven as they come to appreciate, and even heal, one another.

The audiobook narrators (Marin Ireland and Michael Urie) added a beautiful layer to the story. This is Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel, and I certainly look forward to more from this promising author.   

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

  Please welcome Andrew to our bookblog! We're looking forward to having more reviews from him.

Reviewed by Andrew 

Recently, I read the book Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn. This book is about a husband and wife who begin to see different, darker sides of each other through the first several years of their marriage. You are slowly introduced to these characters, learning how they were each raised in different ways and eventually how they meet each other and fall for one another. As you learn about the couple’s past through the wife’s diary, you are thrown into the present where, from the husband’s point of view, the wife has gone missing on their fifth anniversary.  It looks very suspicious and all signs point to the husband as the culprit.

The book’s chapters flip back and forth between the wife’s diary entries, and the husband’s personal narration, with each narrator not giving an entirely full or accurate portrayal of the story.  Instead, each twists the narrative to make the reader support their side of the story.

I greatly enjoyed the back-and-forth of this book, with the author’s writing depicting each of the main characters’ two drastically different points of view. It was difficult to “like” either of the main characters, as they each exhibit horrible qualities in their own different ways. This book has a way of keeping you in suspense, with the wife’s diary dropping subtle hints about how she is afraid of her husband, followed by chapters of the husband’s side of the story as the police begin to question him in his wife’s disappearance.

The one thing I could say about this book that I did not like was the paranoia of wondering how well you really know the people closest to you in your life (which could be said is the entire point of this novel!). The book has a way of its grittiness and doubt seeping its way into your life, the author is so good about conveying the characters’ emotions, it almost makes you feel them yourself. As a recently married man myself, this book was especially terrifying to me. Be sure to have a whimsical happy book to read lined up after this one!

Overall, this suspenseful crime thriller will keep you re-evaluating these main characters well into the story. It is interesting to follow through the couples’ past, learning about how they get to the present of the story, and then following through the investigation of the wife that has gone missing, and wondering whose story to believe. For those of you who enjoy movie adaptations of good books, there is an incredible 2014 movie version of this novel directed by David Fincher (Fight Club, The Social Network, and Se7en), starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike in the lead roles, and an amazing soundtrack by Nine Inch Nails front man, Trent Reznor.

Nevermore: Us Against You, She Come By It Natural, Ship Beneath the Ice, Wings of Gold

Reported by Garry

 

Us Against You by Fredrik Backman is the direct sequel to Beartown reviewed last week. This novel follows the story of the town and its attempt to re-build their championship hockey team after the events of the first novel. Backman is a master at building realistic, rounded characters and placing them in situations where they grow, change, and learn. Our reader noted that this book is just as character driven as Beartown,and is looking forward to finishing the trilogy with The Winners.  MP

 

She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the women Who Lived Her Songs by Sarah Smarsh. Dolly Parton is a national icon not only for her music but for her business acumen, philanthropy, acting, and heart. Country music provided the soundtrack to Smarsh’s childhood growing up in rural Kansas, and no artist was more influential and prominent than Dolly Parton. Parton sings songs about growing up poor but proud and resilient, and Smarsh examines the impact that Parton has had (and continues to have) on generations of female artists and on the culture of America overall in this fascinating look at one of the most prolific musical artists of the past 50 years.  AH

 

The Ship Beneath The Ice: The Discovery of Shackleton’s Endurance by Mensun Bound tells the story of his rediscovery of the Endurance, Ernest Shackleton’s ill-fated ship that was trapped by and sunk in the ice of the Antarctic in 1914. Shackleton and his men had made the trip from Norway in the 144-foot wooden boat in order to become the first explorers to transit from sea to sea via the South Pole. The unpredictable Weddell Sea ice trapped and crushed the ship, stranding Shackleton and his crew of 27 on the sea ice until they could make their way to Elephant Island where they eventually were rescued. The Endurance itself sunk without a trace into the ice and remained a near-legendary wreck until its rediscovery in 2022, just shy of 10,000 feet below the surface. In a fitting coincidence, the day the wreck was found was also exactly one hundred years from the date of Shackleton’s death. This inspiring modern-day adventure narrative captures the intrepid spirit that joins two mariners across the centuries—Shackleton and Bound—both of whom accomplished great things.  CD

 

Wings of Gold: The Story of the First Women Naval Aviators by Beverly Weintraub. In this incredibly well written biography of the first women allowed to fly for the Navy, the ridiculous limitations on females in the Navy are laid bare. For example, women could be naval flight instructors but were not allowed to land planes on aircraft carriers, yet ironically were still allowed to train the men who could land on the carriers. Weintraub herself is a licensed pilot and uses her insights to aid her writing. Our reader was truly impressed by the tenacity and drive that these patriots showed,and was especially impressed that they foresaw the road that they were paving for those coming after them.  KM

 

Also mentioned:

Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults: Indiginous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

The Order of Time by Carlo Rovelli

At Home In Mitford by Jan Karon

Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro

The President and the Freedom Fighter: Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Their Battle to Save America's Soul by Brian Kilmeade

Veiled in Smoke by Jocelyn Green

Run, Rose, Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson

I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai

The Vote by Sybil Downing

 

New Books:

Smithsonian American Table: The Foods, People, and Innovations That Feed Us by Smithsonian Institute

The House of Dudley: A New History of Tudor England by Joanne Paul

The House Is On Fire by Rachel Beanland

Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash

Where We Meet the World: The Story of the Senses by Ashley Ward

 

Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell

Reviewed by Ambrea

Prince Kiem is notorious among the sundry princes of the Iskat Empire.  He’s made a name for himself as a feckless ne’er-do-well, appearing in the tabloids regularly for his crazy antics and charming personality, and he’s accustomed to his role as a minor—that is, inconsequential—noble.  When the Emperor demands he fulfill a marriage contract to solidify a political alliance with the planet of Thea, no one is more surprised than Kiem.  Faced with the displeasure of the emperor, Kiem has no choice but to marry the recently widowed Count Jainan and help bring the vassal planet back under the Iskat Empire’s control.

Count Jainan, unlike Prince Kiem, lives and breathes propriety.  After spending years caught in midst of palace intrigues, Jainan is more aware than most of the landmines lying in wait within the political landscape of the Iskat Empire.  To protect his home planet, Jainan will do anything—even if it means marrying a man he’s never met.  However, Kiem is nothing like he expects and their union quickly becomes something more meaningful.

But something dangerous looms on the horizon:  the Resolution—the galactic ruling powers that keep the Iskat Empire out of the crosshairs of larger, more aggressive planets—has arrived to renew their treaty.  If Jainan and Kiem can’t convince the Resolution to approve their union, the entire empire could be at stake.

Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell is a delightful blend of science fiction and romance that I have enjoyed immensely both times I’ve read it.  The first time I picked up Maxwell’s novel, I devoured it; the second time I picked up Winter’s Orbit, I managed a somewhat more sedate pace, but, even so, I found myself unable to put it down.  Now, I even own a copy, because I whole-heartedly adore this novel.

I love the blending of science fiction, political intrigue, suspense, and romance.  I love the slowly blossoming relationship between Kiem and Jainan.  I love the depictions of futuristic technology and alien hardware and far-flung galactic cultures.  It reminds me of Becky Chamber’s Wayfarer series—it’s an adventure story, but, at the same time, it has an element of softness to it, an undertone of exploration and discovery.

There’s also a focus on the characters, on their development and relationships, not merely the adventure into which they’ve been thrust.  Kiem and Janian are fully fleshed out, fully realized, and I couldn’t help becoming invested in their shared story.  They have their secrets and flaws, their doubts and fears, of course, but they’re somehow wonderful in spite of them—or, perhaps, because of them.  They’re lovely characters, honestly, and I just couldn’t help rooting for them from the first page.

Honestly, I love this book.

Each time I pick it up, it just hits the spot for me, like a cup of hot chocolate on a snowy day or dinner at my favorite restaurant.  It’s sweet without being terribly fluffy; it’s full of adventure and intrigue without feeling overwhelmingly suspenseful; it has a fascinating, futuristic world full of complex political structures and incredible technology, and yet it’s easy to become lost within—or, perhaps, enchanted by—this complicated and imminently captivating universe.

For me, it was a joy to read and I can’t wait to read it again.