Nevermore: Origin Story, Santa Fe, Good Masters/Sweet Ladies, Jefferson's Daughters, Doctored

Reported by Ambrea 

This week, Nevermore took a look at Origin Story:  A Big History of Everything by David Christian, which takes a look at the origins of everything.  According to the subtitle, Origin Story is a history of everything “from the big bang to the first stars, our solar system, life on earth, dinosaurs, Homo sapiens, agriculture, an ice age, empires, fossil fuels, a moon landing, and mass globalization.”  Our reader found Christian’s book to be incredibly fascinating and delightfully done.  Fashioned into a single, accessible volume, Origin Stories was extraordinarily enjoyable and easy to understand and “very complete,” he noted.  He highly recommended it to his fellow Nevermore members, saying it has a little bit of everything for everyone.

Next, Nevermore explored Voyage to Santa Fe by Janice Holt Giles.  Judith and Johnny are young, married, and venturing far from their home in the Arkansas Territory to the distant mountains of Santa Fe.  Facing peril at each turn, Judith and Johnny must stand together if they ever hope to reach their destination.  Our reader picked up Voyage to Santa Fe on a whim and she thoroughly enjoyed it.  Giles’ novel was delightfully descriptive and captivating, containing all the characteristics of a classic Western thriller.  She highly recommended it to the other members of Nevermore, especially if they were looking for a good book to read for an evening or a hit of nostalgia.

Nevermore also stepped further back in time with Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!:  Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz and illustrated by Robert Byrd.  Winner of the Newbery Medal, Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! recounts the lives of 22 different characters as they make their way about a small English village in the year 1255.  Our reader said he enjoyed Schlitz and Byrd’s book so much, admitting he read it twice to really catch the flavor of the stories.  He read aloud portions of his favorite vignettes to Nevermore, showing off the lovely pictures by Byrd and the clever poems created by Schlitz.  He praised Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! very highly, and it was quickly scooped up by another reader.

Nevermore continued to explore history with Jefferson’s Daughters:  Three Sisters, White and Black, in a Young America by Catherine Kerrison.  Thomas Jefferson had three daughters:  Martha and Maria with his wife, Martha Wayles Jefferson, and Harriet by slave Sally Hemings.  In this book, Kerrison explores the lives of Martha, Maria, and Harriet, as they set off for different and disparate futures.  Although our reader was initially interested in reading Kerrison’s biography, she finished reading Jefferson’s Daughters with mixed feelings.  “[It had] more than I wanted to know about French society,” she said, and so much of it “seemed so superfluous.  It was too much for me.”  She agreed it would probably be interesting for someone else, but it definitely won’t be one of her favorites.

Last, Nevermore wrapped up with Doctored:  The Disillusionment of an American Physician by Sandeep Jauhar.  In Doctored, Dr. Jauhar examines the current state of the American healthcare system and examines the complicated and perverse systems of referrals, charges, and malpractice suits that he has experienced.  Our reader said Jauhar’s book was incredibly enlightening.  “It was depressing,” she admitted, “but interesting too.”  Overall, she praised it as a very good book—right up there with Jauhar’s first memoir, Intern—and noted she will be looking forward to getting her hands on his latest book, Heart:  A History.

Nevermore: Doctors, Counts, Dogs, and More!

 Summary by Meygan

This week’s Nevermore opened with Doctored by Sandeep Jauha, an Indian doctor who works in a hospital located in Long Island. In Doctored, he writes about his experiences working in the American health care field and discusses his family. Our Nevermore reader said this book is borderline unethical but makes readers question what are the ethics to begin with. The reader said this book is full of educational and informational material and the author provides unflinching descriptions of people. By the end of the book discussion, three Nevermore members were greatly interested in checking out Doctored. 

The next book discussed was Capital by Thomas Piketty. The Nevermore reader stated this book is an admirable piece of work that is about our political economy. The book was originally written in French, and the author’s writing style was described as being clear and readable, in spite of it being an English translated book. The reader stated that Capital states the facts about income and how there is a lot of wealth out “there” that we know nothing about. The author questions how there can be a science of economics if people don’t have the information. This book was highly praised by our Nevermore reader who stated Capital is a phenomenal book and a real joy to read. He felt like it was a real education and he liked the book immensely more than other economics books he has read. It appears that the author did a fine job of making the subject user friendly and relatable. 

One of our Nevermore members stated that she was done with books related to World War II. That is until she found a book about a dog who was a British was hero. The Dog Who Could Fly: the Incredible True Story of a WWII Airman and the Four-legged Hero Who Flew at His Side by Damien Lewis tells the tale of Robert Bozdech and his beloved dog, Ant. Robert joined the Royal Air Force to fight Hitler. Unfortunately, his plane was shot down, which lead him to meeting Ant, a German shepherd puppy. Together they fight in the war and they eventually became British war heroes. Our Nevermore reader stated that this is the most amazing dog she has ever read about and she admired the way he was devoted to his master. She said it was as if the man and dog could read each other’s minds. (She also mentioned how her dog would have never been that much help, which resulted in a good Tuesday morning Nevermore chuckle.)

Well, it appears that Bristol is putting itself on the map. Currently reviewed in The Wall Street Journal, Barry Mazor’s Ralph Peer and the Making of Popular Roots Music is a biography about Ralph Peer’s journey to Bristol in 1927.  Ralph established the recording, marketing, and publishing of blues, jazz, country, gospel, and Latin music. This is a new book and was released on November 1^st. 

A Nevermore member read two books about Hillary Clinton: Hard Choices by Hillary Rodham Clinton and HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes. Even though both books were enjoyable to the Nevermore reader, he stated that HRC provides a better picture of Hillary’s personality and focuses more on her time spent in senate and as the secretary of state. Hard Choices provides more information about her career in full and provides different views on the stages throughout her career. The reader said there are many big questions about Benghazi. 

Tom Reiss’ The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo is a biography of General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, a soldier and officer in the French Revolution and father of author Alexander Dumas. This book was described as excellent and a worthy of its Pulitzer award.  It was both informative and entertaining, with a very readable style. Our reviewer said it would make a great movie. 

Our Kurt Vonnegut Nevermore reader just finished reading Cat’s Cradle. Even though he enjoyed Cat’s Cradle, he didn’t like it as much as The Sirens of Titan. Cat’s Cradle is less science fiction than Vonnegut’s other novels. This novel studies the family of the creator of the Atomic bomb and the audience soon realized that the family is completely dysfunctional. The Nevermore reader said this was an interesting read.  

The dystopian young adult novel Parched by Georgia Clark was the last book discussed. After her mother dies, Tess moves to the Badlands—a place where people fight over resources and where the water is scarce. She is recruited by Kudzu, a group of people training to fight against the government. This book reminded the Nevermore reader of The Hunger Games, even though she thought it wasn’t nearly as good. Still, readers who love young adult dystopian novels should at least check out this book to see how yet another author has written about the end of times using different characters and a different setting.