Reported by Rita
Having
recently read The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox, (which our reader described
as a depressing children’s book full of misery,) she wanted to learn more about
the slave trade in the Middle Passage. This led her to read the autobiography
titled The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano.
Originally published in 1789, Equiano tells of being kidnapped at age eleven
and sold into slavery. Before buying his freedom in 1766, he was sold four
times and spent many years at sea. His firsthand account of the treatment of
slaves in different countries and aboard ships was eye opening. GG
The Boys
from Biloxi
by John Grisham tells the story of two young immigrant boys who grew up as
friends in Biloxi in the 1960s. The two take different paths as teenagers and
eventually find themselves on opposite sides of the law. Our reader said it
does a good job of illustrating how two people with similar backgrounds can end
up so differently. Good, but not great. It got 3 stars. VC
Occasionally, our Nevermore participants treat us to a written review. Here is one such review of The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese along with Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt:
“Despite its intimidating 715 pages, it is a good history of India (setting around Kerala) from 1900-1977 as it follows 3 generations of a family cursed with a "condition" concerned with water & drowning. There are parallel stories with many characters that concern the disease of leprosy as well as how the health care system developed in India. I found the complexities of this multi-layered story worth the read, in part because of the author's beautiful writing.”
“The book Remarkably
Bright Creatures is a work of fiction about a giant Pacific octopus, set in
Puget Sound, Washington. Though I question all its accolades, it is a worthy
quick read.”
Also
Mentioned:
The Last
Politician: Inside Joe Biden's White House and the Struggle for America's
Future by
Franklin Foer
Enough by Cassidy Hutchinson
Been Down
So Long It Looks Like Up to Me by Richard Fariña
First
Lady from the Plains: A Novel of the Revolutionary War by Rosalynn Carter
The
Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year by Margaret Renkl
A
Gentleman in Moscow
by Amor Towles
Going
Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon by Michael Lewis
The
Angel's Game
by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
The
Prisoner of Heaven
by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
The
Midnight Library
by Matt Haig
Squeeze
Me by
Carl Hiassen
