Nevermore: Plains Across, Martian, North Korea, and More!

Reported by Ambrea

Our Nevermore Book Club journeyed far and wide this week.  Our readers revisited the Oregon Trail with The Plains Across by John D. Unruh Jr. and traveled to Mars in The Martian by Andy Weir, and even stopped over in North Korea in Without You, There is No Us by Suki Kim.  Although our group only was missing some regulars this week, there were still plenty of books and opinions to share.

One of our members has been reading a number of books about the Oregon Trail. This week it was The Plains Across:  The Overland Emigrants and the Trans-Mississippi West, 1840-1860 by John D. Unruh Jr. In this book, our reader said she had a unique opportunity to witness the activities of travelers and study what really happened on the Oregon Trail.  Unruh, who wrote The Plains Across as part of his doctorate dissertation, spent an entire decade compiling information on travelers and pioneer transportation and major trail events, compiling an incredible amount of information into a single, accessible volume.  Our Nevermore readers said it was more of a textbook than recreational reading, but she found it interesting even if she left it unfinished.  She has since decided that her curiosity with the Oregon Trail has been satisfied.

Next up was Without You, There Is No Us:  My Time with the Sons of North Korea’s Elite by Suki Kim, an English teacher who spent six months in North Korea under the leadership of King Jong-il in 2011.  In her memoir, Kim reveals her experiences at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.  Three times daily, students would sing praises of the country’s leaders, which is where Kim finds the inspiration for her title:  Without you, there is no motherland.  Without you, there is no us.  Between extreme censorship guidelines and rigid religious/political regulations, the university was utterly claustrophobic for Suki Kim—and her memoir portrays these struggles of everyday life.  According to our reader, Kim’s memoir provided great insight into the educated social classes of North Korea; however, our reader couldn’t enjoy Without You, There Is No Us for the simple reason that it was going to have or did have grave repercussions for the individuals involved.  It cast everything into a negative light and North Korean officials don’t take kindly to any perceived criticism.

The first novel of the meeting was Buried Angels by Camilla Lackberg.  When Ebba was a baby, she was abruptly abandoned by her family in 1974; now married with children of her own in mind, she and her husband have returned to her hometown to make a fresh start—until an arsonist targets her house.  Detective Patrik Hedstrom and his wife, crime writer Erica Palck, are introduced to the case and discover that Ebba’s family might not be missing after all.  Our reader, who was a little more than halfway finished with the novel, said Buried Angels was “quite good.”  Filled with a multitude of characters—which made our reader wonder, “Is anyone in Sweden not in this book?”—and laced with intrigue, danger, and mystery, Buried Angels was highly recommended by our reader.

Likewise, The Martian by Andy Weir (which was just released as a movie on October 2) received some very positive reviews from our readers.  Chronicling the odyssey of Mark Watney, as he fights to survive the inhospitable terrain of Mars and return to Earth, The Martian is a tale of survival that reaches into the depths of the solar system—think of it as Castaway on Mars.  Our readers seemed to enjoy Weir’s novel.  Marvelously detailed and full of real theoretical physics, all made accessible by Mark Watney’s colorful explanations, The Martian was a thrilling ride.  It kept one of our readers on the edge of her seat.

Having read Gone Girl and Sharp Objects, one member decided to explore Gillian Flynn’s Dark Places.  Like her previous books, this novel is a psychological thriller that plays upon the darkest parts of human imagination.  The story, which our reader described as “pretty dramatic,” begins with Libby Day:  she was seven when her two sisters and her mother were murdered and, as the sole survivor, she testified in court that her brother, fifteen-year-old Ben, was the killer.  Twenty-five years later, she’s brought back to the case only to discover that the facts she believed as a child may no longer be true—and a killer may still be on the loose.  Our reader said she enjoyed Dark Places, much better than Sharp Objects; however, she still believes that Gone Girl is still Flynn’s best book.

Last, our readers discussed Descent by Tim Johnston.  Descent, which follows the disappearance of Caitlin Courtland and the disintegration of her family, was incredibly popular at one of our prior meetings.  Two of our Nevermore members really enjoyed Johnston’s novel, having only positive comments to make; however, our latest reader said she just couldn’t stay with it from beginning to end.  It had the potential to be a great novel, but she felt she just couldn’t sink into the story and stay hooked like some of our other readers.

Nevermore: Nightingale, Lions, Forsytes, and More!

Reported by Ambrea

This week at Nevermore, our readers explored some new books—new to our book club, that is—and even discovered some new favorites with The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, Descent by Tim Johnston, and Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy.

Our readers first dived into an audiobook copy of U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton.  Twenty years after the disappearance of a four-year-old girl, Kinsey Millhone is asked to investigate the case by Michael Sutton.  Sutton, a college dropout at twenty-seven, may possibly be the only witness in a mystery that’s remained notoriously unsolved for two decades—and Kinsey must help him dredge up a memory she’s not even sure existed in the first place.  Bouncing back and forth in time, following both the original witness of the case and Kinsey Millhone as she seeks to fit together pieces of the puzzle, U is for Undertow is a psychologically intricate thriller that received high praise from our Nevermore reader.  She said it was “absolutely incredible—I love this kind of stuff!”

Next, our readers explored a second novel by Justin Halpern called I Suck at Girls.  Like Sh*t My Dad Says, I Suck at Girls is an uproariously funny narrative.  Chronicling his misadventures with the opposite sex—from first dates to engagement parties, from high school to college and beyond—I Suck at Girls is a poignant memoir about the best and worst of love.  Our Nevermore reader absolutely loved Halpern’s latest book.  Both light-hearted and funny, I Suck at Girls was a comedic adventure of the very best kind—and, having listened to the audiobook, she thought it was hilarious how the author managed to give a different voice for every character.

One of our readers also picked Ghosts of Tsavo:  Stalking the Mystery Lions of East Africa by Philip Caputo.  Set in Tsavo River Kenya in 1898, Ghosts of Tsavo explores the construction of the Uganda Railway through east Africa—and the lions that brought construction to a grinding halt after killing 140 people.  According to our reader, Caputo’s book has the opportunity to spark an intriguing discussion—especially after the debacle with Theo Bronkhorst, a big game hunter, and Cecil the lion—but our reader found she just couldn’t become enthusiastic about man-eating lions.  She managed to read 135 pages, but she just “couldn’t go any farther.”

Our readers also visited The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, which follows the intersecting lives of sisters Vianne and Isabelle.  Vianne, who must cope with her husband’s departure for World War II, and Isabelle, a rebellious young woman who falls in love—and, subsequently, joins the Resistance—are “separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion, and circumstance, [but] each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom…”  For our Nevermore reader, The Nightingale was an incredible novel.  Although she was initially hesitant to begin Hannah’s novel, having read so many books based in the midst of World War II, our reader was quickly hooked and begrudged having to do anything other than read.

The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy also made an appearance at our Nevermore meeting.  Published in a series of three novels from 1906 to 1921, The Fosyte Saga received recognition in 1932 when Galsworthy earned a Nobel Prize in literature “for his distinguished art of narration which takes its highest for in [his novel].”  For the most part, Galsworthy’s novel centers on Soames Forsyte—a successful solicitor who lives in London, and a pillar of excellence in his Victorian community—and his wife, Irene.  But beneath the happy façade of their marriage, the Forsytes’ relationship is crumbling into a bitter feud within the family.  According to our Nevermore reader, The Forsyte Saga was excellent.  Although she said it takes some patience to read through the entire series, she said it’s a beautifully written novel that’s well worth reading.

Last, our readers discussed Descent by Tim Johnston.  Chronicling the disappearance of Caitlin Courtland and her family’s desperate search for answers, Descent is an emotional rollercoaster ride that tears the Courtlands’ apart before finally bringing them together again.  Two of our Nevermore members have had the chance to read Johnston’s novel, and they have both given positive reviews:  one reader said he was left speechless by this book, saying it was “very good, extremely good,” while another asserted it was by far the best book she’s read this year