Nevermore: The Last Lecture, The Last Bookshop in London, Ladies of Liberty, Wrong Place Wrong Time

 Reported by Ashley

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch (with Jeffrey Zaslow) looks at the ‘last lecture’ that many professors give, but with a twist- when Randy Pausch was asked to give one of these lectures, he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He didn’t have to imagine how he might feel if he were to reflect on his life and what would matter most, as he was already living it. He gave a lecture called “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” that focused more on living than on looking ahead at dying, and spoke to overcoming obstacles, seizing the moment, and enabling others to chase their own dreams. Our reader talked about how you could really feel Randy’s passion and how while you read it you just knew that that’s the way he’d lived his own life. Referring to the book as very intelligent, very quick witted, and overall just a very enjoyable read, our reader absolutely recommended the book. (BM)

 

The Last Bookshop in London: A Novel of World War II by Madeline Martin received a glowing review during our recent meeting. Grace Bennett’s long dreamed of moving to London, but she didn’t expect to find it full of bunkers and blackouts; that’s what she’s met with when she arrives in August of 1939, settling in to work at a dusty bookshop rather than finding the dazzling life she’d dreamed of. Through the background of the Blitz, Grace leans into the power of storytelling, watching as books touch the lives of those around her. The book was met with absolute approval and came recommended with the highest of praise. With a different perspective on World War II than many readers have come to expect, the character driven novel left the reader with a solid feeling of hope and a reminder to look for the stories unfolding in our world even in darker times. (KN)

Ladies of Liberty: The Women Who Shaped Our Nation by Cokie Roberts was a book that captured our reader’s attention. While the book talks about many of the women who played a part in the shaping of our nation, the story of Dolley Madison stuck out to our reader. Dolley is well known for her role in preserving history as the White House was burnt down in the War of 1812, but at the time there were comments about the fact that she didn’t get matching china sets to refurbish the place (never mind her part in having helped to build the place up from the boring swamp it had been roughly twenty years prior). The book was well received by the group and the reader found that it held her interest throughout. The book was a good reminder that while, historically, women haven’t had much power, they’ve always found ways to influence the world around them regardless. (WJ)

Wrong Place Wrong Time by Gillian McAllister was quite the thriller. A mother witnesses a devastating act: the murder of a stranger by her teenage son. Traumatized by the event, she wakes up to find herself literally reliving the past, and reliving the past, and reliving the past. With each foray into what was, she tries to figure out what she must do to stop the future that only she knows about, and tries to figure out what clues she missed along the way with her seemingly cheerful son. Our reader enjoyed the book, although she did warn that it was a little disconcerting to read a book that told things backwards, so to speak. Our reader seemed to enjoy trying to keep track of what the mom knew versus what the son knew and where they were in the timeline, and found that the book tied everything together well. It was met with a heartfelt recommendation to others. (VC)

  

Other books mentioned:

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus   (CD)

Gentleman Bandit: The True Story of Black Bart, the Old West’s Most Infamous Stagecoach Robber by John Boessenecker   (VC)

Death’s Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab the Body Farm Where the Dead Do Tell Tales by Dr. Bill Bass and Jon Jefferson   (MH)

Do Tell by Lindsay Lynch   (MH)

The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver   (MS)

Power of One by Bryce Courtenay   (SF)

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver   (SF)

Charlie Russell: The Cowboy Years by Jane Lambert   (SF)

The Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara   (AH)

A Disappearance in Fiji by Nilima Rao   (NH)

Dancing at the Rascal Fair by Ivan Doig   (BM)

The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand   (BM)

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee   (BM)

Standing on a Spinning Ball by Mike Guy   (BM)

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano   (PC)

This Terrible Sound: The Battle of Chickamauga by Peter Cozzens   (PC)

In The Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson   (KN)

The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro   (DC)

Mysterious Virginia by Sherman Carmichael   (new)

The Paris Agent by Kelly Rimmer   (new)

The Quarry Girls by Jess Lourey   (new)

#SayHerName: Black Women’s Stories of Police Violence and Public Silence edited by Kimberlé Crenshaw

Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin by Sybrina Fulton

Sierra Club’s Black Lives Matter Quilt Discussion event program book (pamphlet associated with a recent program & display at the Bristol Public Library)

The Appalachian Voice newspaper

Beautiful Thing: Inside the Secret World of Bombay’s Dance Bars by Sonia Faleiro uses the story of one young woman to examine the contradictions in modern Indian society where immense wealth and immense poverty operate side by side.  Leela is a lively, charming young woman who works as a dancer because she has very little alternative.  Then a politician tries to have the dance bars closed on moral grounds, a move which could produce disastrous for Leela.   Beautiful Thing has won numerous awards, and has been praised for both its insights into Indian culture and for the beautiful writing.  Our reviewer thought it was both heartbreaking and breathtaking.

Another somewhat mysterious world is examined in Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet by Andrew Blum.  Blum became interested in finding the physical location of the internet the data centers and information hubs as well as the places where the internet was “born.”  While the writing is suitable for non-geeks, some found it a bit dry but fascinating.

Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts takes a look at the women behind the men who helped form our nation.  Since much less has been written about these mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters, Roberts relied on primary sources such as letters.  All the women are fascinating, in our reviewer’s opinion, and the book does an excellent job of informing and entertaining. Roberts covers the usual women (Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, etc.) but also some other lesser known but influential women such as Esther Burr or Peggy Shippen.

Less successful, at least to our reviewer, was Julian Barnes’ novel Sense of an Ending.  The plot concerns a middle-aged man who receives an unexpected legacy that causes him to re-examine his life and his past.  The book was described as depressing, with a main clueless main character, and a strange plot twist for no reason.

One of our reviewers who has been disappointed with David Baldacci’s more recent novels decided to re-read an earlier book she had enjoyed.  In The Winner, a down-on-her luck waitress is wins a lottery courtesy of a mysterious and sinister benefactor known as Jackson.  There’s only one caveat:  she must leave the country forever.  After a decade abroad, Luann is so homesick that she returns.  This a breach of her agreement that will bring down Jackson’s considerable wrath and results in a breathtaking game of cat and mouse. Our reviewer said this was still an outstanding book, and if someone wanted to read a book by Baldacci, this is the one to read.