New Books for October!

It’s October and publishers are ready for readers to get in the holiday spirit!  Not Halloween—those came out in July.  Here are some of the titles planned for the month; ones with asterisks are Yuletide themed.

 

*Andrews, Donna  Dashing Through the Snowbirds (Meg Langslow)

Baldacci, David  Long Shadows (Memory Man)

Berry, Wendell  The Need to Be Whole (Essays)

Child, Lee and Andrew Child No Plan B (Jack Reacher)

Cornwell, Patricia  Livid (Scarpetta)

DeMille, Nelson  The Maze (John Corey)

French, Nicci The Favor

Graham, Heather  Voice of Fear (Krewe of Hunters)

Grandin, Temple  Visual Thinking:  The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns, and Abstractions

Grisham, John  The Boys from Biloxi

*Haines, Carolyn  Bones of Holly (Sarah Booth Delaney)

Hilderbrand, Elin  Endless Summer (short stories)

Hoover, Colleen  It Starts with Us

Irving, John  The Last Chairlift

Kingsolver, Barbara  Demon Copperhead

*Macomber, Debbie  The Christmas Spirit

Maguire, Gregory  The Oracle of Maracoor

*Mallery, Susan  Home Sweet Christmas

McCarthy, Cormac  The Passenger

Ng, Celestine  Our Missing Hearts

Patterson, James  Triple Cross  (Alex Cross)

*Patterson, James The Twelve Topsy-Turvy, Very Messy Days of Christmas

Picoult, Jodi  Mad Honey

Rankin, Ian  A Heart Full of Headstones (Inspector Rebus)

*Rosenfelt, David  Santa’s Little Yelpers (Andy Carpenter)

Sandford, John Righteous Prey (Lucas Davenport)

Steel, Danielle  The High Notes

Woods, Stuart  Distant Thunder (Stone Barrington)

Nevermore: Haven, Figures In A Landscape, Heart Is A Lonely Hunter

Reported by Garry

Haven by Emma Donoghue. Set in 7^th century Ireland, this novel tells the tale of Artt, a scholar and priest who has a dream that tells him to leave the world behind and build a hermitage/monastery. Sailing down the river Shannon and out into the open ocean, Artt and his two companions come to the Skellig Islands, eight miles off the southwest coast of Ireland. Here, Artt and his two companions, one old and wise, the other young and ingenious, start building their monastery on Skellig Michael, a brutally harsh, windswept, twin-pinnacled crag in the ocean. Artt is the leader and Prior of the brotherhood, and demands total obedience to what he says is God’s will, despite the harshness of their situation. Our reader says that the descriptions of the day-to-day lives of the three are highly detailed and pretty graphic as they have to slaughter the sea-birds that call the island home in order to get food and oil. Fun Fact: Skellig Michael was the setting of Luke’s Jedi Temple in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  ML

Figures In A Landscape: People and Places is a collection of essays by Paul Theroux, with the overall theme being on the craft of writing. Along the way, Theroux takes us surfing with Oliver Sacks, on a helicopter ride to Neverland with Elizabeth Taylor, and exploring New York with Robin Williams. Our reader is a fan of Theroux’s writing and has read most of his published works. She fully recommends this collection, first published in 2018.  CD

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers has been described as one of the greatest novels of the 20^th century. Written when McCullers was only 23-years-old, this classic novel is about a deaf-mute man, John Singer, and the people he encounters in the small Georgia town where he lives, their struggles to connect with one another on a meaningful level, and their coming to terms with the world. Giving voice to those who are forgotten, swept away, and sidelined, McCullers shows a depth of understanding of the human condition far beyond that of a typical 23-year-old. There was lively discussion about this book in the group, with many of our members having read it. Highly recommended by all, this novel, first published in 1940, still resonates deeply today.  WJ

Also discussed: 

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

The Last Mile by David Baldacci

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

A Southern Family by Gail Godwin

Legend in Green Velvet by Elizabeth Peters

Selected Stories by William Trevor

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande

Ever by My Side: A Memoir in Eight Acts Pets by Dr. Nick Trout

So You Want to Start a Podcast: Finding Your Voice, Telling Your Story, and Building a Community That Will Listen by Kristen Meinzer

The Collected Stories by William Trevor

Sapphira and the Slave Girl by Willa Cather

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

The Last Mile by David Baldacci

The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian

Wild & Furry Animals of the Southern Appalachian Mountains by Lee James Pantas

Road Out of Winter by Alison Stine

Funny Farm: My Unexpected Life with 600 Rescue Animals by Laurie Zaleski

Ducky by Eve Bunting

Ducks Overboard!:  A True Story of Plastic in Our Oceans by Markus Motum

Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them by Donovan Hohn

Shadow of the Empire: A Judge Dee Investigation by Qiu Xiaolong

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Di Renjie, a seventh century Chinese magistrate and statesman, was the inspiration for an eighteenth century Chinese detective novel.  The book greatly intrigued Robert van Gulik, a Dutch scholar who studied Chinese culture, especially art and literature.  He reworked the book to suit Western sensibilities, taking out some of the supernatural elements, and then wrote several novels using the character “Judge Dee.” These proved very popular.

Now Qiu Xiaolong, a Shanghai-born, award-winning mystery author has decided to do his own version of a Judge Dee story.  As the story opens, Dee has just been appointed as Imperial Circuit Supervisor by Empress Wu and is setting out to assume his new post.  He is contacted by a representative from Internal Minister Wu—the nephew of the Empress—about investigating a recent shocking murder.  A renowned poet/courtesan, Xuanji, brutally murdered her maid and buried her body in the courtyard of a Daoist nunnery.  She has been arrested and has confessed, but her confession seems suspect.  Dee agrees to stop a day or so and investigate the matter.

Dee knows from the start that there is something very odd about the matter—not just the murder, but the request for him to investigate.  There are obviously some political machinations going on, and the confession is unbelievable, but the broader picture remains murky. Dee is going to have to be very careful, lest he fall into someone’s trap.

I had read the van Gulik books years ago and was fascinated by them, so I was eager to pick this one up.  I am pleased to report that I enjoyed it very much.  The politics of the Tang Dynasty were more prominent in this one than I recall from van Gulik’s work, and I felt I had a bit more insight into the culture.  Poetry is enormously important in this era, and Qiu includes some of Xuanji’s poetry;  the murder in the book is indeed based on a true story, although the real case occurred long after Judge Dee’s time.  The ending was satisfying, though I’m not sure others would agree. I see it as a reflection of the time, and remain intrigued by some of the characters.

I would certainly read another Dee book by this author, and now I want to go back and read some of van Gulik’s as well.

Hemingway’s Cats: A Novel about Cats and Other Forces of Nature by Lindsey Hooper

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

 

Laura Lange really needed a change of scene. She’s just ended a relationship and needs a job, so she decides to pull up stakes from New York and head to Key West to work at the Hemingway Home and Museum.  Laura was an English major in school and even did her thesis on Hemingway; plus, she loves cats, so this seems like a match made in heaven.

Only she didn’t realize heaven was so humid.

Laura begins to adjust to her surroundings and to make friends with her new roommates and work colleagues. She’s also attracted the attention of a pair of cousins who are hoping she’ll pick one of them to be more than a friend.

While Key West is living up to its reputation as a freewheeling, laid-back, colorful place, there are storm clouds gathering—literally.  There’s a tropical storm bearing down on the Keys and it may do some real damage.

I picked this up because the jacket copy talked about the impossibility of moving the Hemingway cats out of the storm, making me think of Hurricane Irma. The staff at the Hemingway Home made the decision not to evacuate, which could have had fatal consequences.  Even one of Hemingway’s granddaughters publically asked them to leave, but they stayed put:  there was no way to evacuate the cats safely.

While I was disappointed that the story ended up not being about that particular storm, I still enjoyed the book.  Laura and the cousins are fairly stock characters, but there were enough colorful folks to round out the tale. There was a good bit of romance, too—not usually my thing, but again, some of the romances were unexpected.  I liked the good natured tone, the Key West setting, and most of all, the cats who are characters in their own rights.  In fact, parts of the story are told from their points of view.

In short, this was a pleasant tale that kept me happily occupied. 

Nevermore: My Name Is Red, Other Birds, This Will Not Pass, The Plot

 

 

Reported by Garry

 

My Name is Red is a novel by Nobel Prize winning Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk. During the height of the Ottoman Empire in 1591, the Sultan assembles a small army of miniaturists to create a book singing his praises. Specifically, and perhaps dangerously, the Sultan wants the book to include paintings of himself – which is considered an affront to Islam. When one of the miniaturists is killed, anyone could be the killer – indeed, one of the 56 chapters is narrated by the killer. There are also chapters narrated by a corpse, a dog, a tree, and the color red. Unconventional and yet successful at every level, this book truly captivated our reader’s imagination, and she stated that she absolutely loved it.  MH

 

Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen is a novel set in the small coastal town of Mallow Island, South Carolina. Zoe Hennessey has come to town to claim her deceased mother’s apartment at The Dellawisp, a unique cobblestone building that holds five apartments and many secrets, both mundane and otherworldly. This atmospheric work of magical realism kept our reader guessing, and she stated it was just plain fun! She was never quite sure where the book was going, but the twists and turns were a delight to read.  WJ

 

This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America’s Future by Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns is the authoritative account of the immediate aftermath of the tumultuous 2020 United States presidential election and the attack on the Capitol on January 6. Drawing from multiple interviews, first-account documents, and recordings by Burns and Alexander (both reporters), this book lays bare the insularity of Washington politics and the duplicity with which both Republicans and Democrats treat not only their own people but the voting public. This book was so good that our reader recommends that anyone who has an interest in the current state of the political climate in our country read this for the astonishing insights it holds.  DC

 

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz. What would you do? Jacob Bonner is a one-hit-wonder author whose career is on the skids. He has a student who is working on a book with a stunningly brilliant plot. Then the student dies and the book goes unpublished...until Jacob publishes it himself under his own name. Wildly successful, the book brings Jacob riches beyond his dreams. It also brings an email: “You are a thief.” Someone knows Jacob’s secret, but who and how far are they willing to go to uncover it, and how far is Jacob willing to go to keep it hidden? This nail-biting suspense novel is an easy read with incredibly descriptive characters and taut writing, and comes highly recommended by our reader. PP

 

Also mentioned:

Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

The Last Mile by David Baldacci

The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason

The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson

Switchboard Soldiers by Jennifer Chiavarini

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

Brazen by Julia Haart

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan

The Recruit by Alan Drew

Authority by Jeff VanderMeer

Who Killed Jane Stanford?: A Gilded Age Tale of Murder, Deceit, Spirits, and the Birth of a University by Richard White

The House of Unexpected Sisters by Alexander McCall Smith

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

 

When a young woman complains that she was unfairly dismissed from her job, the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency has a new case.  Charity was accused of being rude to a customer, a charge she denies.  Was she really guilty, or is there something else going on at the store?

Meanwhile, Mma Ramotswe discovers there is another woman with the unusual surname of Ramotswe.  She must be a relative, but how are they related?

Adding to her stress is that a man from her past is in town, someone she wants to avoid. 

Everyone knows the formula for these books.  Problems are solved over cups of red bush tea, fruit cake is consumed, and the state of the world is discussed. These are characters we know and love, and we care about them.  This entry has the usually unflappable Mma Ramotswe suffering emotional pain.  As Mma Makutsi thinks, “Mma Ramotswe being sad was like a day with no sun, a day with no birdsong at dawn, a day without tea. . . .”

I hesitate to describe the plot any further, because I don’t want to spoil anything.

Be assured that all turns out well in the end, with a surprise or two along the way, but the emotional depth that run through the book makes this volume a standout for me. I’ll admit that some of the books have run together but there are some I remember vividly, and I think this will be one of those.

McCall Smith knows how to aim for the heart.

New Books in September!

 

Here are a few of the titles we're looking forward to seeing this month!

Adler-Olsen, Jussi  The Shadow Murders (Department Q)

Archer, Jeffrey  Next in Line (William Warwick)

Backman, Fredrik  The Winners (Beartown)

Box, C.J. Treasure State (Cody Hoyt/Cassie Dewell)

Cleeves, Ann The Rising Tide (Vera Stanhope)

Connolly, John  The Furies (Charlie Parker)

De Castrique, Mark  Secret Lives:  First in a new series: Ethel Crestwater may seem to be the harmless owner of a boarding house, but this retired FBI agent hasn’t let her skills get rusty. She’ll need them to find out who murdered one of her boarders.

Harris, Robert Act of Oblivion

House, Silas  Lark Ascending

Johansen, Iris  Captive (Eve Duncan)

Johnson, Craig  Hell and Back (Longmire)

Kelly, Sofie  Whiskers and Lies (Magical Cats Mystery)

King, Laurie Back to the Garden: When a skull turns up in during renovations to the Gardner Estate, Inspector Raquel Laing finds she has one very cold case on her hands.

King, Stephen  Fairy Tale

Lewis, Beverly  The Orchard

Lupica, Mike Robert B. Parker’s Fallout (Jesse Stone)

Maden, Mike Clive Cussler’s Hellburner (Oregon Files)

McCall Smith, Alexander A Song of Comfortable Chairs (No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency)

Michaels, Fern  Falling Stars

Miley, Mary  Deadly Spirits (Mystic’s Accomplice)

Mills, Kyle  Oath of Loyalty (Mitch Rapp)

Novik, Naomi  The Golden Enclaves (Scholomance)

O’Reilly, Bill Killing the Legends: The Lethal Danger of Celebrity (non-fiction)

Osman, Richard The Bullet That Missed (Thursday Murder Club)

Patterson, James  Blowback

Robards, Karen  The Girl from Guernica

Robb, J.D.  Desperation in Death

Sawyer, Kim Vogel Still My Forever

Sparks, Nicholas  Dreamland

Stashower, Daniel  American Demon:  Eliot Ness and the Hunt for America’s Jack the Ripper (non-fiction)

Strout, Elizabeth  Lucy by the Sea (Amgash)

Theroux, Paul  The Bad Angel Brothers

Turow, Scott  Suspect (Kindle County)

The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo

 

Reviewed by Kristin

While browsing Tennessee READS for an audiobook, I came across The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo. I almost didn’t check it out because I had never heard of the author (despite the fact that this debut was a New York Times bestseller—I just missed it!) and also it was long—20 ½ hours! The cover was attractive though, with four yellow ginkgo leaves lying in a vertical line with the title overlaying the image. The title itself is also a little non-descript, but I decided to give it a try. I’m glad I did.

David Sorenson and Marilyn Connolly met, fell in love, married, and started a family, all in quick succession. David is a young doctor and is struggling to build his family practice. Marilyn is almost done with her own degree when first daughter Wendy is born, and she quickly decides that balancing exams with motherhood is too difficult. Not to mention, second daughter Violet comes along less than a year later. When Liza arrives there are three, and then a decade later there is Grace.

The story moves back and forth in time, telling the Sorenson’s story in pieces. David and Marilyn remain madly and demonstratively in love with each other through the decades, creating a “perfect” relationship model. With their parents seeming so happy, the girls question whether they will ever find true love. Despite their common roots, each of David and Marilyn’s daughters grow up to be very different and unique people.

Wendy is an independent soul from the start. Wendy married a wealthy, somewhat older man and then is widowed all too soon. At first, this is presented a bit stereotypically with a lot of alcohol and an extravagant lifestyle, but as the story progresses we learn more about both the happiness and the pain Wendy has endured.

Violet is definitely a type A personality, making straight A’s, going to college and law school, and eventually becoming a stay-at-home mom who manages her family’s schedule as if she’s still billing in six minute increments. Tightly wound, Violet still has insecurities that she tries to hide from everyone, perhaps even herself.

Liza is overshadowed by her older sisters, but manages to become a tenured professor in her early 30’s. She has been living with Ryan for almost a decade, and they are having a baby. But Ryan won’t get off the couch, and living with someone who is likely clinically depressed is wearing on Liza.

Grace has finally left the family home in Chicago, going to college in Oregon and then applying to law schools on the west coast. She is the furthest away geographically, and perhaps the one most uncertain of herself. Grace feels the pressure of measuring up to her older sisters who have always thought of her as the baby.

And there is Jonah. The baby given up for adoption fifteen years ago by one of the daughters, who is back in their lives after a series of events which left him in foster care for most of his life.

This cast of characters is woven together with strands of love, but pulled and pushed in different directions with the stresses of their situations and the decisions they have made. Lombardo’s writing is moving, and she skillfully reveals motives for characters’ previous actions at just the right moments. This is a family saga worth reading; yes, even over several hundred pages or many hours in the car.

Nevermore: Birds of America, Murmur of Bees, An Only Child and Her Sister, Circe

 

Reported by Garry

 

Birds of America by Mary McCarthy is the coming-of-age story of Peter Levi, a sheltered and shy young man who has come to Paris in 1964 to study at the Sorbonne. Determined to live a life free of stress and unnecessary complications, Peter soon learns that adulthood will replace his childhood whether he is ready for it or not. Paralleling Peter’s chaotic emergence into adulthood are the stirrings of war in Southeast Asia and the growing social unrest in the West. Our reader said that McCarthy does an excellent job evoking the overall feelings of the turbulent 1960s in this historical fiction novel, and recommends it highly.  DC

 

The Murmur of Bees is the best-selling magical realism novel by Sophia Segovia. This is the first of Segovia’s novels to be translated into English, and if the reaction of our reader is anything to judge by, this will definitely not be the last. Simonopio is an abandoned child with amazing powers – he is protected by a swarm of bees, and when he closes his eyes he can see the future. The book follows the lives of Simonopio, his adoptive family and the fates and fortunes of those in the small, Northern Mexican town where they live. Set against the backdrop of both the Mexican revolution and the Spanish Flu of 1916, this historical novel is “absolutely beautiful” as our reader exclaimed.  AH

 

An Only Child and Her Sister by Casey Maxwell Clair is the harrowing memoir of a Hollywood family that was dysfunctional to the extreme. Casey and her little sister, Christine were born into an affluent, successful Hollywood family: a starlet mother and a successful songwriter father. But looks can be deceiving – their mother didn’t like or want children, and their father had a hidden drug habit that turned the charismatic, charming man into a hair-trigger rage monster. Our reader was aghast at what the two children went through and was frankly amazed that the writer, Casey, survived to be a successful as she is.  CD

 

Circe by Madeline Miller. Daughter of the Helios, God of the Son, and a beautiful human woman, Circe is a conundrum – she does not appear to have inherited any of her father’s powers or her mother’s beauty. But Circe does possess power: witchcraft, with which she can threaten the very gods themselves. Zeus banishes Circe to a deserted island where she hones her craft and powers until she is forced to choose whether she is a god or a mortal. While the names of the Greek gods confused our reader a bit, she said that the storytelling was top-notch and gives voice to a character whose story has until now existed only on the peripheries of others.  MH

 

Also mentioned:

 

Properties of Thirst by Marianne Wiggins

Finding Your Way Without Map or Compass by Harold Gatty

Mountain of the Dead: The Dyatlov Pass Incident by Keith McCloskey

The Sweet Remnants of Summer by Alexander McCall Smith

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

Switchboard Soldiers by Jennifer Chiaverini

Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune

Any Other Family by Eleanor Brown

Geiger by Gustaf Skördeman

Fighting Words by Kimberley Brubaker Bradley

Raising Lazarus: Hope, Justice, and the Future of America’s Overdose Crisis by Beth Macy

When The Moon Turns to Blood: Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell, and a Story of Murder, Wild Faith, and End Times by Leah Sottile

Unmask Alice: LSD, Satanic Panic, and the Imposter behind the World’s Most Notorious Diaries by Rick Emerson

A Melungeon Winter by Patrick Bone

The Aliens of Transylvania County by Patrick Bone

The Books of Earthsea:  The Complete Illustrated Edition by Ursula K. Le Guin

Chivalry by Neil Gaiman, art by Colleen Doran

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

 

Elderly widow Mrs. Whitaker likes to stop at the Oxfam shop on her way home from the post office on Thursdays. You never know what you might find at a thrift shop: a stuffed cobra, for instance.  This day Mrs. Whitaker finds some romance novels to read and the Holy Grail.

She thinks it will look nice on her mantelpiece.

It does, but then a young man on a horse comes by and wants the Grail.  His name is Galaad, and he’s on a quest, you see.

Only Mrs. Whitaker likes the way it looks on the mantelpiece and doesn’t want to give it up.

I first read this as a short story in a collection of Gaiman’s work and found it charming.  It’s just as charming in graphic novel form, with beautiful watercolor artwork and hints of illuminated manuscript that fit in well with the tone of the story.  It’s not surprising to read in the afterword that artist Doran fell in love with the story and waited years to be able to illustrate it. Her attention to detail is really extends the story, especially as it pertains to Mrs. Whitaker and her late husband. It's truly a gorgeously illustrated version.

The juxtaposition of the ordinary and the fantastic is handled so well in both formats, and the gentle humor just shines.  One thing I love about both versions is that Mrs. Whitaker is no fool.  To say more would venture into spoiler territory, I think.

Frankly, I like both versions.  I love Gaiman’s way with words, with the nuances that he coveys.  I do envision the story my way, though, and I’m glad that I had read it first before seeing the illustrated version. And, I confess, I still like the text only version a little bit better because sometimes illustrations take me away from the words.  It’s sort of the difference between reading a book and seeing the movie but let me hastily add that I feel Doran has been far more faithful to Gaiman’s vision than almost any movie version.  She truly wants to compliment his work and I believe she has succeeded brilliantly.

And I have to say that I think this version will find its way into more hands and introduce this lovely tale to more people, which is a most noble and worthy quest.

The Secret History of Food by Matt Siegel

Reviewed by Christy

            Why is vanilla – an expensive and finicky spice – also used to call things “bland” or “boring”? Why were people afraid to eat tomatoes for hundreds of years? And how do food photographers keep ice cream from melting under hot lights? If any of these questions interest you, you might want to check out Matt Siegel’s quick read The Secret History of Food.

            This non-fiction work is an enjoyable, fast read packed with lots of interesting little facts to tuck away for trivia questions around the dinner table (my stepson’s preferred table talk). Siegel meanders throughout world history, bouncing from food topic to food topic but also discusses some modern day “secrets” about the food industry. (Those parts aren’t quite so fun.) You’ll learn that World War II soldiers made up their dream Christmas menus to pass the time. To paraphrase one soldier: “Full belly, you think of women. Empty belly, you think of food.” You’ll see how the extremely wealthy would quite literally play with their food just because they could – serving pig heads sewed onto chicken bodies and vice versa. And ice cream doesn’t melt for photographers because they use colored lard!

            The variety of food covered kept me engaged, and Siegel’s authorial voice is wry and often times funny. One particular favorite anecdote was when he discussed a BBC segment on a “spaghetti plantation” where farmers would pick the cooked noodles out of trees (an April Fool’s joke). According to Siegel, many people called into the station to find out just where this plantation was located so they could go. “Keep in mind this was 1957, 12 years after the creation of the atom bomb.” Ok, that made me laugh out loud. (The segment is available on YouTube for those interested!) My only real quibble is that sometimes Siegel’s commentary would veer into snide and smug territory, which I found unpleasant.

            Overall, however, I was pleased with this, and the audiobook narrator Roger Wayne does a great job as well. It’s a good book to pick up during a reading slump because it doesn’t overstay its welcome on any one subject, and it’s a breeze to get through.

Nevermore: Cleopatra, Girl in Duluth, Best American Science and Nature Writing, Bean Trees, Pigs in Heaven

 

Reported by Garry

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff is the biography of one of the most famous women in history. Cunning, ambitious and utterly cutthroat in her pursuit of power (she waged a civil war against one brother, poisoned another and had her sister killed), she was one of the most powerful women in the Middle East, forging ties with the Roman Empire that still echo today. Schiff utilizes classical sources to reconstruct the life (and death at age 40) of this fascinating icon of history.  SH

The Girl in Duluth by Sigrid Brown tells the harrowing story of June Bergeron – an 18 year old whose mother has disappeared. Fearing the worst, June investigates the disappearance and is pulled into the dark, violent underbelly of northern Minnesota, and her own family’s dark secrets. This tight-paced thriller really captivated our reader who stated that the characters are particularly well-written and relatable.  MS

The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2021 edited by Ed Young. “Excellent. Absolutely excellent.” was the review by our reader. In this compilation of the best science and nature articles written in the US in 2020, editor Ed Young has curated a collection that spans three broad topics: Contagion, Connection, and Consequences. Our reader has been a fan of this series of compilations for quite some time and states that this collection of articles ranks up there with the best.  CD

The Bean Trees and Pigs in Heaven are a duology by Barbara Kingsolver that follow the story of Missy, a spirited young lady from poor, rural Kentucky, who decides to get away and change her life. Changing her name to Taylor is the first step. Driving to Tucson, Arizona is the second. Life has other plans for her, though, as within hours of arriving in Tucson, she is handed a 3-year-old Cherokee girl named Turtle. Taylor adopts the young girl and settles in Tucson, setting roots where she did not intend. When a lawyer for the Cherokee nation starts to investigate the (highly unorthodox) adoption of Turtle, Taylor and Turtle’s new life begins to crumble.  MH

Also mentioned:

Just Came for the Donuts – NH    (   :D   )

Valley of the Amazons by Noretta Koertge

Why Nations Fail:  The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty by Darren Acemoglu and James Robinson

A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier

Out of Istanbul:  A Journey of Discovery along the Silk Road by Bernard Ollivier

Picking Cherries

Surviving the White Gaze: A Memoir by Rebecca Caroll

Switchboard Soldiers by Jennifer Chiaverini

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

The Regulators by Richard Bachman (Stephen King)

The Sweet Remnants of Summer by Alexander McCall Smith

Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

The Women’s House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison by Hugh Ryan

Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women by Geraldine Brooks

Trashlands by Alison Stine

The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian

Properties of Thirst by Marianne Wiggins

The Codebreaker’s Secret by Sara Ackerman