Nevermore: Ninth Hour, Trials of the Earth, What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky, It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium

 

Nevermore December 28 2021

Reported by Garry 

The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott is a novel set in Brooklyn during the early years of the twentieth century, focusing on the Tiernan family and the nuns who help them after the suicide of Annie Tiernan’s husband. Interwoven in this story are tales of the nuns’ lives, the priests and the people (mainly Irish immigrants,) all denizens of the borough, and the tireless work of the nuns who care for the needy in a time before social services. McDermott skillfully brings a wide variety of characters to life with complex, well-realized characters and motivations. WJ

 

The Trials of the Earth:  The Story of A Pioneer Woman by Mary Mann Hamilton is a fascinating autobiographical look at life in the backwoods of the Mississippi Delta, written during the 1930s. Mary lived from 1866 to 1936 and recorded her history near the end of her life – a life of backbreaking, oftentimes lonely work on a homestead in Mississippi. Our reader was struck by how incredibly strong the writer was to have survived (and thrived) in what would now be considered very primitive, often heartbreaking conditions (Mary had nine children, of whom only five survived to adulthood.) CD

 

What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky is a collection of fantastical short stories by the up-and-coming writer Lesley Nneka Arimah.  This anthology explores the ties that bind parents and children, lovers and friends, and husbands and wives not only to each other but to the places that they live. Our reader particularly liked Arimah’s use of magical realism in her stories, and the complex, believable characters who she brings to life in each of these 12 stories. MH

It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium is the memoir of John Bradley, a former college football player who became a sports writer. Bradley describes in heart-touching detail the strength of the bonds that form while playing college sports and the chasm of self-doubt and regret when one believes that their life peaked at age nineteen. Bradley attended Louisiana State University for four years in the late 1970s, and when his football career ended, he cut off all contact with his teammates and coaches in an attempt to put the past behind him. Years later, he realized that doing so left a huge hole in his heart and soul. Our reader says that this book really brings to life the struggle that many young athletes face when the sport that has been central to their lives for so long is no longer there for them, and highly recommends it as an unblinking but heartfelt look at life. BS

Also mentioned:

The City of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan

Both/And: A Life in Many Worlds by Huma Abedin

The World of Plymouth Plantation by Carla Gardina Pestana

On Animals by Susan Orlean

Surrender, White People!: Our Unconditional Terms for Peace by D.L. Hughley and Doug Moe

Creatures of the Deep by Erich Hoyt

The 1619 Project by Nikole Hannah-Jones

The Power of the Dog by Thomas Savage

The Postmistress of Paris by Meg Waite Clayton

The Care and Management of Lies by Jacqueline Winspear

Autopsy by Patricia Cornwell

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult

Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman