Nevermore: Sisters in Arms, Traveling with People I Want to Punch, Fever Feuds and Diamonds, Divine Justice

 

 

Reported by Garry

 

Sisters In Arms: A Novel of the Daring Black Women Who Served During World War II by Kaia Alderson tells the fictionalized story of the 6888^th Central Postal Directory Battalion – the only all-Black battalion of the Women’s Army Corps. Fearless Eliza and level-headed Grace are from different backgrounds but come together to serve their country during World War II. Facing incredible odds, both from within and outside of the Army, these ladies forged a path for themselves and all women who came after them in the Armed Forces. This book is a work of fiction, but is based on true events and historical figures. Our reader loved this look at a piece of history that has remained hidden until relatively recently.  WJ

 

Traveling with People I Want to Punch in the Throat by Jen Mann is a light, fun read that made our reader laugh out loud a number of times. Mann is the snarky, sarcastic best-selling author whose list of both human and non-human punchables includes (but is not limited to) people who go barefooted on airplanes, armrest hogs, children who do not use headphones, crummy WiFi in hotels, food poisoning, sunstroke, and the horrible knowledge that you have paid a fortune to create these “wonderful” memories. This book is the latest in a series of People I Want to Punch in the Throat that has topped the New York Times Best Seller list.  CD

 

 

Fever, Feuds and Diamonds: Ebola and the Ravages of History by Paul Farmer is the thoroughly researched account of the 2014 Ebola outbreak in the West African nations of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia - the worst outbreak of this terrifying disease in history. Tracing the history of health care and disease containment from colonial times through 2014, Farmer lays out how social structure and health care are intricately intertwined, at a deadly cost. Farmer was a founding member of Partners in Health, was on the front line during the Ebola outbreak and used his first-hand experience to write this harrowing story of a plague that cost an estimated (and most likely wildly under-reported) 11,323 deaths.  AH

 

 

Divine Justice by David Baldacci is part of the Camel Club Series about a group of conspiracy theorists and an undercover CIA hitman who goes by the alias of Oliver Stone. Stone is on the run after killing two master-spies who were responsible for the deaths of his wife and daughter. The storytelling is taut and full of twists and turns that kept our reader flipping the pages – so much so that she highly recommends this thriller by one of the world’s top selling authors.  MC

 

Also Mentioned:

Orfeia by Joanne M. Harris

Chasing History: A Kid in the Newsroom by Carl Bernstein

The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman

Roots by Alex Haley

Her Hidden Genius by Marie Benedict

Black Potatoes:  The Story of the Great Irish Famine by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Eli the Good by Silas House

Rachel Calof’s Story: Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains by Rachel Calof