Nevermore: After the Cataclysm, Force of Nature, Family Lore, When I'm Dead, To Conjure a Killer, This Time Tomorrow

 Reported by Kristin 

 

We had a small group on this very cold day, but it was nice to Zoom in and talk books!

 

First up, one reader discussed After the Cataclysm: Volume II: The Political Economy of Human Rights by Noam Chomsky and Edward S. Herman. Covering Western influenced political movements in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, Chomsky and Herman come together again to look at how the United States is involved in the political regimes of many other world countries. Our reader expressed her fraught emotions that so many lives have been lost, decades past and continuing to the present day.

 

Another more life affirming book was mentioned by the same reader: Force of Nature by Joan M. Griffin. The non-fiction work tells the tale of three women friends, all 50-somethings, who set off to walk the beautiful John Muir trail in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. Our reader noted that alongside the description of the beauty and difficulty of the trail, the author included nitty-gritty details such as the relief of receiving food and clothing packages, including the delight of being able to put on clean underclothing after days of hiking. This comes highly recommended!

 

Another reader is just getting into another new book, Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo. Dominican American Flor has a special gift--she can predict when someone will die. When Flor announces to her family that she wants to have a living wake, their responses are generally along the line of "Oh no, is Flor going to die soon??"

 

When I'm Dead by Hannah Morrissey interested one of our book club members, with the main characters being a husband and wife team, a police detective and a medical examiner, respectively. When bodies of their teenage daughter's friends start showing up, and then their daughter goes missing, these parents must race against the clock as they investigate the murders of the young women.

 

Clea Simon's Witch Cats of Salem series returned to Nevermore with the fourth in series To Conjure a Killer. Main character Becca is part of a young coven based in Cambridge, all members working earnestly to cast spells. Little does she know that her mystical feline friends may be the ones who have more substantial power. When Becca's ex-boyfriend shows up (dead), guess who is a prime suspect? 

 

Another recent book read was This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub. Our reader said this was another time travel or time slipping book which she keeps finding in her reading pile. Alice goes out to celebrate her 40th birthday with her lifelong best friend. Her life is okay, but somewhat mundane, and she is dealing with anticipatory grief for her hospitalized father. But when she wakes up the next morning in her childhood home with her father at the table, she realizes she has returned to her 16th birthday, and perhaps a chance to live her life a little differently. Again, and again, and again.

 

Also mentioned:

 

Sigrid Rides: The Story of an Extraordinary Friendship and an Adventure on Two Wheels by Travis Nelson

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

The Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand

The Fireman by Joe Hill

Weyward by Emilia Hart

Nevermore: Fears of a Setting Sun, Patron Saint of Second Chances, Left on Tenth, Unsinkable Greta James

 

Nevermore May 17, 2022

Reported by Garry

Fears of a Setting Sun: The Disillusionment of America’s Founders by Dennis C. Rasmussen. One would think that the Founding Fathers would have been extremely proud and optimistic about their crowning glory, the United States Constitution. They weren’t. Partisan bickering and campaigns of misinformation threatened to tear the country apart from the very beginning and most of them did not believe that the U.S. would survive long. This very enlightening book outlines how and why the Fathers were both disappointed and pessimistic about the outcome of this country and the experiment in democracy that they started. Our reader loves this book so much that she has read it twice so far in just a few weeks, and was moved to tears by the dedication shown by the writers of the Constitution, who toiled for months to establish the world’s first democracy.  DC

 

The Patron Saint of Second Chances by Christine Simon is a sun-soaked summer read set in the extremely small fictional Italian town of Prometto (population 212). Faced with having the town shut down due to faulty and aging water pipes, the self-appointed mayor decides to start a rumor that a famous movie star is coming to town to film his latest blockbuster, in a hair-brained bid to bring tourists (and their money) to town. Best-laid plans go awry when the fictional film takes on a life of its own with nearly every member of the town (plus others) wanting to participate in one way or another, and Signor Speranza (the mayor) realizing he may have to make the movie himself.  This hilarious, heartfelt debut novel was a hit with our reader, who thought it was a perfect summer-getaway novel.  WJ

Left on Tenth: A Second Chance at Life is a memoir by Delia Ephron, sister to Nora Ephron. A best-selling and highly accomplished screenwriter in her own right, Delia recounts a horrific few years of dealing with not only the death of both her husband and sister within a short time but her own battle with a particularly aggressive form of leukemia. Against this backdrop of sorrow and trial, Delia unexpectedly falls in love with a man that she had very briefly dated fifty-four years previously. (So briefly that she had completely forgotten all about him and didn’t even recall dating him in the first place!) This touching and honest memoir was praised by our reader for the writing, but she did criticize how economically out of touch the author is when complaining about being “broke” and only being able to go to the South of France twice a year.  NH

 

The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith is a modern novel following Greta James, an up-and-coming musical artist. After the sudden death of her mother, Greta falls apart on stage during a performance. The footage goes viral and Greta, shocked and embarrassed, stops playing altogether. Her career on the precipice, she reluctantly agrees to accompany her father on a cruise meant to have been a celebration of her parent’s fortieth anniversary. On board, she meets Ben Wilder, a historian dealing with his own loss. Love, loss, healing, and the beautiful surroundings of Haynes, Alaska was a real hit with our reader, whose own son lives in Haynes.  MH

Also mentioned:

Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler

Winter Hero by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

Never Simple by Liz Scheier

From the Hood to the Holler: A Story of Separate Worlds, Shared Dreams, and the Fight for America’s Future by Charles Booker

Junk Science and the American Criminal System by M. Chris Fabricant

Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan

Paradise by Toni Morrison

Look For Me by Lisa Gardner

The Pact by Jodi Picoult

Sacred Contracts: Awakening Your Divine Potential by Caroline Myss

The Echoes by Jess Montgomery

Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan

Prairie Fever by Michael Parker

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig

On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder

The Wise Ass by Tom McCaffrey

Playing Doctor - Part One:  Medical School: Stumbling through with Amnesia by John Lawrence

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

What Happened to the Bennetts by Lisa Scottoline

The American Women’s Almanac by Deborah G. Felder

The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine by Serhii Plokhy

Hell and Other Destinations: A 21^st-Century Memoir by Madeleine Albright

There Are Places in the World Where Rules Are Less Important than Kindness: And Other Thoughts on Physics, Philosophy and the World by Carlo Rovelli

A Muse Named Musetta

People who enjoy having animals appear as characters in books fall broadly into two camps: those who like having the animal add his or her two cents’ worth and those who want the animal to behave realistically. I’ve known people to pick up a book with a nice cat on the cover and ask suspiciously, “Does the cat talk in this one?” If the answer is yes, then back the book goes onto the shelf. If the book was by Clea Simon, it’d be checked out because, as charming as Musetta is, she never oversteps her bounds and remains true to her species—which means no talking, no solving mysteries and no commentary on human foibles.

Simon’s detective is Theda Krakow, a free-lance reporter/critic for a Boston newspaper. Theda specializes in the rock music scene but often has to take on other assignments to pay the bills. She’s thirty-something when we first meet her and adjusting to some drastic changes: giving up a secure but dull job as a copy editor for a chance to do what she really loves, getting over a break-up with a long time boyfriend, and mourning the loss of her cat, James. She’s taking stock of her life and doing some second guessing. Should she have maintained the status quo? Are the professional risks in pursuit of a dream worth it or should she have opted for being sure of being able to pay the rent on time? Or is it time to simplify, uncomplicate and settle? Her friends are making their choices; but these may not be the right choices for Theda.

The first book also introduces Musetta, a tuxedo cat who becomes the one constant in Theda’s life. The feline offers comfort, companionship and distraction. Pet lovers will smile in recognition at some of her antics and enjoy the interspecies comraderie.

Theda’s job naturally draws her into most of the mysteries, though she isn’t one of those pushy, intrusive, obnoxious reporters. She tries to be fair, even when she feels some of her subjects are trying to use her to further their own aims. The supporting cast offers a great deal of diversity, from Bunny the Wiccan to Bill the cop to Violet the punk rocker. Animal welfare themes are frequently a part of the plot, but Simon generally practices an even-handed approach, with discussion over tirades. Simon is topical without being dated; she deals obliquely with the pet food poisoning and pet diets, the controversy concerning pet vaccinations, no-kill shelters and the implosion of local papers in enough detail to make readers aware, but she doesn’t use the novels as a soapbox. She also manages to describe the music scene Theda loves in a way that makes the music interesting and appealing, even if blues or rock isn’t your cup of tea.
The setting is used to good advantage as well. Simon gives the reader a good feel for Cambridge’s people and neighborhoods, the vibrant music scene and the creative side of the city, reflective of many a college town.

This series doesn’t have to be read in order, but I enjoyed watching some of the character growth. The books also get better as they go along, with a dab more polish each time. All are solidly plotted and well-written mysteries which play fair with the reader. If you appreciate a good clean puzzle with some real-world connections, by all means give Simon’s books a try.

Mew is for Murder: A number of life-changing events have left Theda reeling. A chance meeting with an elderly lady who may be either a cat rescuing saint or a deranged hoarder gives her an idea for a possible feature story, but her subject dies before the interview can take place. It appears accidental, but why does someone keep breaking into the house?

Cattery Row: Someone is stealing show cats, in what would seem to be a senseless crime. Without papers, the cats and any offspring wouldn’t be valuable and it would be easier to obtain cats from the street. Additionally, an up and coming new musician is in town and Theda has a chance for an interview but there’s just something a little “off” about the situation. It isn’t long before murder and extortion give Theda’s investigations a more dangerous aspect.

Cries and Whiskers: When a local animal activist is killed in an apparent hit and run, Theda finds herself on a rescue mission to find the feral cats the woman had been trapping. Her life is further complicated by a rush assignment to profile an up and coming band whom everyone knows but nobody seems to have heard play, the emergence of some new recreational drug that's marring the club scene, some possible real estate hanky panky involving the bottling plant and the growing evidence that the activist’s death was no accident but a case of murder.

Probable Claws: After a donated bag of cat food sickens some of Violet's cats, Theda offers to help her trace the source. The search leads to a local vet, but dead-ends—literally—when Theda finds the body and becomes a suspect in the murder.

Clea Simon is the author of both fiction and non-fiction books. She lives in Cambridge with her writer husband and their cat, the ever inspirational Musetta. She’s started on a new series of mysteries with a supernatural touch—and possibly a ghost cat. Or not. You’ll have to decide when you read Shades of Grey, due out in September 2009.

Reviewed by Jeanne