Nevermore: Do No Harm, Cashelmara, Wrexford & Sloan

 

Reported by Garry

 

Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery by is a memoir by Henry Marsh, based on his 30+ years as a leading neurosurgeon. Candid, darkly hilarious, and deeply insightful, Do No Harm lent our reader a much deeper understanding of not only the National Health Service (the UK’s centralized health care system), but of the brain and its incredible intricacies than she previously had. Far from ego-driven and self-congratulatory, Marsh explores not only the successes that he has had, but failures and mistakes made along the way. “Very truthful and very human” is how our reader described this book.  CD 

Cashelmara by Susan Howatch is a historical drama that starts in the late 19^th century and spans three generations of the de Salis family, aristocrats whose fortunes rise and fall with the politics of the time. Our reader says that the writer did a beautiful job of capturing the personalities of the various characters, including the historical slang and personal idiosyncrasies that set them apart from one another, and in particular noted that each character has a distinct “voice” that comes through from the page.  DC

The Wrexford & Sloan Mystery series by Andrea Penrose is a seven book series of regency-era books that are “brain candy” to our reader, but “GREAT brain candy”! Our reader particularly liked the great characters that Penrose has created in these books, and in particular noted that the characters are actually likeable people. The series focuses on Charlotte Sloan and the Earl of Wrexford, who carry on a “will they, won’t they” relationship while together solving murder mysteries that our reader describes as fun and wholly believable.  SC

 

Also mentioned:

Weird Virginia: Your Guide to Virginia's Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets by Jeff Bahr, Troy Taylor and Loren Coleman

The River Hills & Beyond: Poems by Lou V. Crabtree

Sweet Hollow: Stories by Lou V. Crabtree

The Sentence by Louise Erdrich

The Paris Orphan by Natasha Lester

Master Slave Husband Wife by Ilyon Woo

The Maid by Nita Prose

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Sweet Land of Liberty: A History of America in 11 Pies by Rossi Anastopoulo

Raising Them Right: The Untold Story of America's Ultraconservative Youth Movement and Its Plot for Power by Kyle Spencer

Falling is Not an Option: A Way to Lifelong Balance by George Locker

She and Her Cat: Stories by Makoto Shinkai and Naruki Nagakawa

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

Lessons from the Edge:  A Memoir by Marie Yovanovitch

The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter Than You Think by Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods

Whale Day and Other Poems by Billy Collins

Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld

Nevermore: How to Be Black, Stuff WhitePeople Like, Do No Harm, Ghost Army, The Lottery, The Comfort of Strangers

Our first reader was quite enthusiastic about How to be Black by Baratunde Thurston because of the way the book treats serious subjects with humor.  Chapters include “How to be the Black Employee,” “How Black Are You?’ and “Being Black at Harvard.”  He also assembled a panel of mostly black people to answer questions such as “When did you realize you are black?” (There is one white panelist, by the way.) 

She also recommended Christian Lander’s Stuff White People Like: A Definitive Guide to the Taste of Millions. The list included coffee (preferably fair trade, organic, or both), foreign films, and religions their parents don’t belong to.  Our reviewer thought it was laugh out loud funny.

Switching gears to a wholly serious topic, the next book was Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery by Dr. Henry Marsh, an English neurosurgeon. Our reviewer praised Dr. Marsh for his candor about his mistakes and for remembering he was human, not a god. She found the British perspective to be very refreshing.  It was an easy read overall, but some sections were very moving.  She found the section about surgery in Ukraine to be very much an eye-opener.

Ghost Army of World War II by Rich Beyer and Elizabeth Sayles sheds light on a little known aspect of World War II:  a group of soldiers whose job it was to convince the German army that there were weapons and encampments in areas where there were none.  They achieved this with sound effects, inflatable tanks, and a lot of paint.  The men were artists, designers, sound engineers, and generally creative types with the imagination to pull off such an operation.  As might be expected, the book is heavily illustrated and includes drawings by some of the soldiers—Bill Blass, Art Kane, Arthur Singers, and others who would later gain fame in some aspect of the arts. Our readers said it was a fabulous book, both interesting and involving.

The graphic novel version of Shirley Jackson’s classic short story “The Lottery” made quite an impression on our next reviewer.  He was unfamiliar with the story, but found the art was quite mysterious and set the mood perfectly.  Miles Hyman, the artist and adaptor of the story, is a grandson of Ms. Jackson. Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”: The Authorized Graphic Novel comes highly recommended by Nevermore.

Finally, The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan is the story of a young English couple who are on holiday when they meet an older man who seems to take an interest in them.  He also has some rather odd stories to tell. . . This is one of McEwan’s earlier efforts—just his second novel, in fact.   Our reviewer described the book as powerful, intense, and dark.  He also noted that the title is quite ironic.