The Nevermore members were out in force for this meeting! The book discussion portion opened with Lost in Paris by Elizabeth Thompson. Hannah Bond enjoys her life as a guide for Jane Austen themed tours, in part because living in England puts her an ocean away from her alcoholic mother in Florida. She’s startled when her mother shows up at her door, telling her that they have inherited Hannah’s great-grandmother Ivy’s apartment in Paris. Once there, they find themselves excavating the past, including Ivy’s accounts of life in the City of Lights when it was home to Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and other luminaries. As they discover Ivy’s secret past, mother and daughter try to forge a new relationship. Our reader recommended the book as she really enjoyed it. Another member said wistfully that she wished she could inherit something like that!
Next up was Malcolm Gladwell’s David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants which our reviewer very highly recommended. She listened to it on audio and also read the book. The author contends that sometimes the “little guy” may have to resort to extreme tactics in order to benefit the greater good. One example was a staged photo which caught national attention in a way that speeches alone did not. This started a lively discussion about morality. Obviously, this is a thought-provoking book!
The Therapist by B.A. Paris is a thriller about a young couple who move into a new home in a gated community. Soon they discover that the neighbors are keeping secrets, including that something terrible happened in the house they have just bought. Our reader said this was a really good thriller. She said she could usually figure out what was going to happen in such novels, but this one surprised her.
The Spy by Paulo Coelho is a novel about Mata Hari, the woman who was alleged to have been an agent during World War I. The book is in the form of a letter written by Margareretha Geertruida MacLeod (Mata Hari’s birth name) before she is to face execution. Our reviewer likes Paulo Coelho’s work as a rule, but found this one not to up to his usual standard. She was disappointed in the book, and said she could not recommend this title.
Another novel featuring a historical figure was up next. The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory is the story of Mary, Queen of Scots at the time she was in the custody of the Earl of Shrewsbury and his wife, Bess of Hardwick. What seems like a sure way to curry favor with Queen Elizabeth for keeping her cousin soon proves to be a dangerous move as Mary seems to weave her plots. Again, this book was deemed a disappointment from a usually reliable author. The reader slogged through the pages, which she summed up as, “Everyone is miserable.” The book was not recommended, unsurprisingly.
Jane Smiley has definitely picked up some fans after Perstroika in Paris made the rounds. This time, The Greenlanders was the title and, despite it being a very different sort of book, it was met with approval. The book is set in the fourteenth century, and revolves around a family in a Norse colony set up by Erik the Red as they struggle to survive in Greenland. Our reader said she was loving it!
Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead is set in the 1960s in (you guessed it!) Harlem. Ray Carney has built up a small business selling used furniture and trying to keep mostly on the straight and narrow—well, more or less. His cousin, Freddie, on the other hand keeps bringing Ray some hot items to sell, which he does. Then Freddie tries to make a big score and ends up involving Ray with some very shady and possibly very dangerous characters. The reviewer said she liked the author, but was struggling with this book a bit, possibly because the characters all had names and then nicknames so it was hard to keep track of who was who. She also said it was “as funny as heck.”
Finally, Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach was lauded as one of the best non-fiction writers out there. Roach likes to take somewhat off-beat topics and explain the science behind them in easy to understand fashion, and being hilarious along with it. In this new book, she takes up the problem of human-wildlife conflict, from elk who cause car wrecks to gulls who take out a floral display to welcome the Pope. Our Nevermore member said she laughed out loud while she learned and highly recommends anything Mary Roach writes.
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
The Summons by John Grisham
13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve
Sacred Contracts by Caroline Myss
Waiting for Snow in Havana by Carlos Eire
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