Reported by Laura
Nevermore has been meeting through
Zoom and it is a great pleasure to see these lovely lady’s faces each week
during this difficult time in our country.
Our first book came highly recommended
-- as a matter of fact, I immediately put a hold on it so I could read it, too!
The Mist by Ragnar Jonasson is
set in Iceland during one of the coldest days of the year. It’s Christmas Eve
and a couple are busily preparing for their traditional celebration. Living in
the middle of nowhere with snow up to the roof, a knock on the door is highly
unexpected. As the husband opens the door, a man falls into the room. The
husband helps him up and welcomes him in, but the wife gets a bad feeling. The
man has already passed her daughter’s house to come to theirs. Neither has
phone or electricity at present, but she knows her daughter has candles in the
window. Why did he fight the storm to continue to their house? From here the
mystery unfolds and it is a very good book. An added plus is that the print is
easy to read and the story keeps you interested throughout.
Late Migrations by Margaret
Renkl is a memoir with stories from the life of a NY Times writer. The reviewer
found it sweet and touching and enjoyed it so much that she had to buy it. That’s
about the highest recommendation anyone can give! The book contains numerous
stories, including her early family life, that are sometimes humorous and
highly recommended.
The next book, unfortunately, did not
come recommended. There’s No Toilet Paper on the Road Less Traveled is a
collection of funny travel stories edited by Doug Lansky. The reviewer got
about ¾’s of the way through before giving up and only reading the stories by
the authors she recognized. She did enjoy those, some of which included Dave
Barry and Bill Bryson, among others.
The Lost German Slave Girl by
John Bailey is a phenomenal history of mid-nineteenth century New Orleans and
North Carolina. The case the title refers to is a well-documented true story of
a German immigrant with olive skin who is forced into slavery. The title is
somewhat misleading, as this is not the only case focused on in the book, but
it is captivating reading with some incredible quotes from the judges involved.
Definitely recommended!
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
by Lisa See is a very interesting book about a culture foreign to most of us.
The reviewer loves this Chinese American author’s writing which frequently encompasses
the differing cultures, the relationships,
and generational differences of mothers
and daughters. This particular book tells the story of Li-yan, a young Chinese
girl who rebels against the old ways after becoming pregnant out-of-wedlock by
a man deemed unsuitable. Rather than destroy the child, with the help of her
midwife mother, she delivers the baby and leaves her, wrapped in a blanket with
a tea cake inserted in its folds, at the door of an orphanage. Following the
lives of Li-yan and the baby she gave up for adoption, this novel gives an
excellent perspective of the culture. The reviewer recommends not only the
book, but the author, as well.
Our last review was another memoir, Claiming
Ground by Laura Bell. This book tells
the story of Ms. Bell’s adventures after graduation from the University of
Kentucky. At loose ends, she travels to an archeological dig in Wyoming and
never returns to her homeland. The book tells of her exploits as a sheep-herder
in the Big Horn Basin, covering her life until the age of 50. The book shares,
among other things, her gift of family support as well as her grief at the loss
of her daughter. This book is eloquently written and comes recommended. (An interesting
side note is that Laura Bell’s mother, Virginia Bell, helped to develop the
Best Friends Approach that is used to improve the lives of many of those
afflicted with Alzheimer’s and dementia.)
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