Reported by Kristin
We had a small group on this very cold day, but it was nice to Zoom in and talk books!
First
up, one reader discussed After the Cataclysm: Volume II: The Political
Economy of Human Rights by Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman. Covering
Western influenced political movements in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia,
Chomsky and Herman come together again to look at how the United States
is involved in the political regimes of many other world countries. Our
reader expressed her fraught emotions that so many lives have been lost,
decades past and continuing to the present day.
Another
more life affirming book was mentioned by the same reader: Force of
Nature by Joan M. Griffin. The non-fiction work tells the tale of three
women friends, all 50-somethings, who set off to walk the beautiful John
Muir trail in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. Our reader
noted that alongside the description of the beauty and difficulty of the
trail, the author included nitty-gritty details such as the relief of
receiving food and clothing packages, including the delight of being
able to put on clean underclothing after days of hiking. This comes
highly recommended!
Another
reader is just getting into another new book, Family Lore by Elizabeth
Acevedo. Dominican American Flor has a special gift--she can predict
when someone will die. When Flor announces to her family that she wants
to have a living wake, their responses are generally along the line of
"Oh no, is Flor going to die soon??"
When
I'm Dead by Hannah Morrissey interested one of our book club members,
with the main characters being a husband and wife team, a police
detective and a medical examiner, respectively. When bodies of their
teenage daughter's friends start showing up, and then their daughter
goes missing, these parents must race against the clock as they
investigate the murders of the young women.
Clea Simon's Witch Cats of Salem
series returned to Nevermore with the fourth in series To Conjure a
Killer. Main character Becca is part of a young coven based in
Cambridge, all members working earnestly to cast spells. Little does she
know that her mystical feline friends may be the ones who have more
substantial power. When Becca's ex-boyfriend shows up (dead), guess who
is a prime suspect?
Another
recent book read was This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub. Our reader said
this was another time travel or time slipping book which she keeps
finding in her reading pile. Alice goes out to celebrate her 40th
birthday with her lifelong best friend. Her life is okay, but somewhat
mundane, and she is dealing with anticipatory grief for her hospitalized
father. But when she wakes up the next morning in her childhood home
with her father at the table, she realizes she has returned to her 16th
birthday, and perhaps a chance to live her life a little differently.
Again, and again, and again.
Also mentioned:
Sigrid Rides: The Story of an Extraordinary Friendship and an Adventure on Two Wheels by Travis Nelson
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
The Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand
The Fireman by Joe Hill
Weyward by Emilia Hart
