Nevermore: Traitor, Under the Whispering Door, Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Esperanza Rising, Between Certain Death

 

Reported by Garry

The Traitor by V.S. Alexander is historical fiction based on true events that occurred in Germany at the beginning of World War II. The White Rose was an underground non-violent resistance group based out of the University of Munich. In this novel, Natalya Petrovich is a student at the University who joins the White Rose group after witnessing the horrors of war first-hand as a nurse on the Russian front. Natalya’s life is soon in danger as the Gestapo closes in on members of the resistance. Our reader said that this is a very fascinating story about a part of Nazi Germany not that well known here in America, and commented on the excellent quality of both the writing and the research of this novel.  WJ

 

Under the Whispering Door is the latest fantasy novel by the award-winning author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, TJ Klune. In this heartwarming story, Wallace is a grump – cold, unfeeling, unforgiving, and dead. He first realizes that something is up when no one can see him in the sparse audience at his funeral, except for Mei, a young woman who turns out to be a reaper, (as in Grim Reaper,) to collect him. Mei takes him to Charon’s Crossing, a teahouse/waystation for those who are not yet ready to cross where Wallace has the time and guidance to reexamine his life and to learn to live, even when dead. Our reader really loved this book for its warmhearted, humorous writing and the fantastical world-building for which Klune is known.  WJ

 

Our next reader enjoyed the novel that set John LeCarre on the path to becoming one of the best-selling authors in the world: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Initially published in 1963, this thriller tells the story of Alec Leamas, a British agent who is sent to East Germany posing as a defector in order to sow damaging information about a highly effective East Germany intelligence officer. Revolutionary at the time for its portrayal of espionage agents as morally ambiguous and more interested in expediency of national security than doing the “right thing,” this book set the stage for the entire genre of modern-day spy novels. Our reader really loved this book, specifically the intricate and deftly woven plot, and highly recommends it for its masterful storytelling.  FC

 

Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan is a young adult book that tells the story of Esperanza, a daughter of a wealthy rancher in Mexico. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Esperanza’s life changes dramatically when her father dies unexpectedly. Under pressure to marry a man she does not love, Esperanza’s mother makes the perilous decision to flee with her daughter to a migrant worker camp in the United States, where life is harsh and like nothing Esperanza has experienced (or even knew about) before. Our reader was touched by the sensitivity and depth of the writing in this book, especially in its depiction of the lives of migrant workers during the era of the Great Depression. Noting how immigration and workers’ rights are very current issues, our reader pointed out that this book, written in 2002 and set in the 1930s is as relevant today as it was when it was published.  AH

 

Finally, another reader recommended Between Certain Death and a Possible Future: Queer Writing on Growing Up with the AIDS Crisis edited by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore. A collection of essays from a diverse population of writers, this book explores the hopes, fears, and changing attitudes of those who grew up with the specter of HIV/AIDS as a potential consequence of connecting with another human.  KP

 

Also mentioned:

The Guest House (poem) by Rumi

My Planet: Finding Human in the Oddest Places by Mary Roach

Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy

The Midnight Hour by Elly Griffiths

Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene

The Sea-Wolf by Jack London

Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show by Jonathan Karl

Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder

The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance by Laurie Garrett

Whereabouts by Jhumpa Lahiri

We Didn’t Mean To Go To Sea by Arthur Ransome

The Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa

The Lost World of John Smithson: Science, Revolution, and the Birth of the Smithsonian by Heather Ewing