Nevermore: Murder in Music City, Nexus, Cursed Bunny

 

Nevermore 11-26-24       Reported by Rita

 

A Murder in Music City by Bishop, Michael

When a private citizen stumbles upon a secret file related to the murder of an 18-year-old babysitter in 1964, the unsolved case is reopened and, with the help of the world's top forensic experts, the real killer is finally brought to justice, in a shocking true crime story that changed Nashville history forever.

I found the author’s approach confusing and difficult to follow. I didn’t like it.      – NH        1 star

 

Nexus : A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI by Harari, Yuval N.

From the Stone Age through the canonization of the Bible, Stalinism, Nazism and the resurgence of populism today, a historian and philosopher explores human history to consider how the flow of information has shaped us, and our world, addressing the urgent choices we face as nonhuman intelligence threatens our very existence.

A very comprehensive discussion of AI. It’s a wonderful book, full of interesting information.     – DC      5 stars

 

Cursed Bunny by Chung, Bora

Blending horror, sci-fi and fairytales this collection of short stories from an increasingly popular Korean author includes a tale about a woman followed and haunted by her own bodily waste and a young monster forced into underground fight rings.

One of the weirdest books I’ve ever read. I really liked it.       – MH      4 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

A Pair of Wings by Hopson, Carole

The School for German Brides by Runyan, Aimie K.

The Silent Watcher by Methos, Victor

Campbell's Rambles by Fletcher, Patty L.

Within These Walls of Sorrow by Barratt, Amanda

Dogs of the Cariboo and Other Stories by Gentry, Mary

The Cruelest Month by Penny, Louise

Sacred Wilderness by Power, Susan

The Cypress Maze by Valpy, Fiona

Identity Unknown by Cornwell, Patricia

 

New Books

Sonny Boy by Pacino, Al

The Colony Club by Noble, Shelley

The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by Waggoner, C. M.

White Robes and Broken Badges by Moore, Joe

Atlas Obscura - Wild Life by Giaimo, Cara

Nevermore: Immobile Empire, Daughters of Yalta, Humans, Forgotten Country

 

Nevermore June 7, 2022

 

Reported by Garry

 

The Immobile Empire by Alain Peyrefitte is a detailed look at the disastrous attempt by the British Empire to open up China to trade with the West in 1793. Both cultures viewed the other with derision and were convinced of their own superiority. Egos clashed and the results have echoed around the globe for generations. Peryefitte draws on the diaries of those involved on both sides to paint a fascinating picture of distrust, hubris, and etiquette. This exhaustively researched book clocks in at a hefty 630 pages, but the length of it neither put off nor bored our reader who says that this is a very interesting book for any history buff.  FC

 

The Daughters of Yalta: The Churchills, Roosevelts, and Harrimans: A Story of Love and War by Catherine Grace Katz is the meticulously researched tale of the daughters of three of the most powerful men in history: Sarah Churchill (Winston’s daughter), Anna Roosevelt (Franklin’s only daughter), and Kathleen Harriman (daughter of Averell Harriman, the US Ambassador to the Soviet Union). These three daughters accompanied their fathers to a world-altering meeting at Yalta during the waning days of the Second World War. Seamlessly combining the politics of the day with the interpersonal relationships of the three daughters and their fathers, this book fascinated our reader, who found it hard to put down.  CD

 

Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up by Tom Phillips is an irreverent look at how we humans manage to mangle nearly everything we get our hands on. How we are still here is a bit of a mystery when you look at all the ways that we have messed things up. Our reader says this breezy book has equal amounts of history and humor and was a delight to read, and she found herself laughing out loud many times.  PP

 

Forgotten Country by Catherine Chung is one of the most beautiful books that our book club member has ever read. Weaving Korean folklore into a decades-spanning story of immigration and the search for identity, this story focuses on Janie, a Korean-born, American-raised immigrant, and her family. Janie’s elder sister disappeared and cut all ties with her family. The family moves back to Korea and Janie is tasked with finding her sister before their father dies – a task that Janie both feels compelled to do, but bitterly resentful about. This debut novel takes a deep and emotional look at not only the immigrant experience but the ties that bind (and sometimes chafe) amongst family members.  AH

 

Also mentioned:

Same Place, Same Things by Tim Gautreaux

The Resting Place by Camilla Sten

The American Women’s Almanac: 500 Years of Making History by Deborah G. Felder

Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938 by R. A. Scotti

The Memoirs of A Survivor by Doris Lessing

The Book Woman’s Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson

Travels with George: In Search of Washington and His Legacy by Nathaniel Philbrick

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

Death of a Gossip by M.C. Beaton

LGBTQ Fiction and Poetry from Appalachia edited by Jeff Mann and Julia Watts

Love is the Cure: On Life, Loss and the End of AIDS by Elton John

Fools Crow by James Welch

His Name Is George Floyd: One Man's Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa

Unmasked: My Life Solving America’s Cold Cases by Paul Holes

The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures: A True Tale of Obsession, Murder, and the Movies by Paul Fischer

Yinka, Where is Your Husband? By Lizzie Damilola Blackburn

Eight Faces at Three by Craig Rice