Reported by Ben
Chasing History by Carl Bernstein: this book is the famous reporter's account of his personal journey as a reporter. Bernstein first faced difficulty establishing himself in the profession. He was a poor student who barely graduated high school and flunked out of college after spending too much time working for a newspaper instead of studying. Then he lost his job after a new editor took over the newsroom, stating reporters needed a college degree. Undaunted, Bernstein found a way to stay in the journalism profession and would cover big stories during a tumultuous time in US history. Our Nevermore club member loved Bernstein's writing style. She couldn't put the book down!
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green: 20-something protagonist April May stumbles upon a strange figure, appearing to be a transformer robot or monolith. She posts a picture of her find to social media, which goes viral, earning her notoriety. What April had stumbled upon was a mysterious phenomenon soon to be known as "The Carls," many more of which are being discovered in other cities. The plot thickens as April contends with her newfound fame and society faces a divide over what to do with these strange visitors. The Nevermore reader who shared this book went into it with a little apprehension, since it was a young adult novel. However she really liked the book and recommended it to the group.
A Melungeon Winter by Patrick Bone: in the 1950s, two friends--one white and one black--team up to exonerate the father of one of the boys who was accused of murder. The boys must work with a local Melungeon hermit named Mr. Mullins to solve the mystery. Nevermore's reader fell in love with the book, emphasizing how well it represented the region and time period she came from. Bone's novel is one of the few she will keep and read again!
The Poison Squad: One Chemist's Single-Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the Twentieth Century by Deborah Blum: this nonfiction title details the struggle to make food safe, from the late 1800s through the early 1900s. What was the problem? Your milk might have been just water with chalk mixed in. The meat at your table could contain borax. The food industry was experimenting with preservatives and being reckless with the contents of the country's food. Complicating the crusade to clean up everyone's food were changing government administration staffs which brought new priorities with them and a lack of funding for research. Our woman-on-assignment reading this book indicated that this one was not for the faint of heart. She was unable to finish reading it, being disturbed by what she learned. Blum's book did generate a lot of discussion and questions at the table, however. An eager Nevermore regular quickly snatched it up at the end of the discussion.
Other titles mentioned:
Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845–1850 by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen
The Women of Chateau Lafayette by Stephanie Dray
Amy and Isabelle: A Novel by Elizabeth Strout
The Adventures of Maya the Bee by Waldemar Bonsels
Green Dolphin Street by Elizabeth Goudge
At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie
The Russia House by John le Carré
A Bad Day for Sunshine and A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones
Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger
Look for Me by Lisa Gardner
The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
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