Reported by
Garry
Witches
Abroad by
Terry Pratchett is part of the Discworld series but can be read as a
standalone. Our reader absolutely loved this hilarious, irreverent fantasy set
in the Discworld universe. Fairy godmother Desiderata has died, leaving her
coveted wand to young witch Magrat Garlick but failed to leave adequate
instructions on its use. She did give
Magrat strict orders to tell witches Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg that they
definitely could not accompany Magrat on her mission to help a young woman NOT
marry a prince. This of course ensures that they will insist on accompanying
her to “foreign parts” to help. Fortunately, Nanny Ogg speaks foreign. This utterly delightful journey takes them
through any number of fairy tales and pays tribute to the power of story. Our reader was kept in stitches and highly
recommends this book. WJ
Agent
Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy by Damien Lewis. Entertainment
icon Josephine Baker was much more than just one of the most beautiful women of
her time. She was an incredibly
intelligent, driven and cunning Resistance fighter. Baker found fame and
acceptance in France, where she became a super-star, until the Nazis seized
Paris and banned her from the stage. Overnight she became a Resistance fighter
and spy. Drawing on a trove of historical documents and research, Damien Lewis brings
to light this lesser-known side of one of the world’s most iconic performers in
a book that our reader (who loves WWII books) loved, and highly recommends to
anyone who wants to know more about WWII.
ML
The Love
Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers is a multi-award winning novel that
tackles the generational effects of slavery in America. Ailey Pearl Garfield is
raised in the North but spends summers in the South in the small Georgia town
that her family has inhabited since being transported there as slaves. W.E.B.
Du Bois wrote that every African American possesses a “Double Consciousness”
which they use to survive a culture biased against them and other people of
color. Our reader says that she has never read anything that was so descriptive
of the experience of BIPOC before, and states that this towering work of Black
feminist historical fiction is definitely worth reading. MH
The
Family Upstairs
by Lisa Jewell. Be careful what you wish
for – you may just get it and more. Libby Jones is a 25-year-old Brit who does
not know who she is. Her birth parents have been a mystery to her since she was
found as a baby at the site of a horrendous murder – of which she was the sole
survivor. She finds out not only who her parents are, but that she is the heir
to a mansion in the heart of one of London’s most desirable neighborhoods,
worth millions of pounds. She also finds out that she is not the only one with
secrets that have just been revealed. Our reader says that this is a definite
page-turner and stayed up WAY too late reading it.
Also
Mentioned:
The
Lioness
by Chris Bohjalian
Daisy
Darker by
Alice Feeney
The U.S.
and the Holocaust
by Ken Burns on PBS
Birds of
America: A Novel
by Mary McCarthy
Red
Shirts by
John Scalzi
Ducks
Overboard
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
The
Mosquito Bowl: A Game of Life and Death in World War II by Buzz Bissinger
D (A Tale
of Two Worlds)
by Michel Faber
Transcendent
Kingdom
by Yaa Gyasi
The
Umbrella Academy
by Gerard Way
Bunnicula (Graphic Novel) by James
Howe
The
Monsters We Defy
by Leslye Penelope
Slenderman:
Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls by Kathleen Hale
Path Lit
by Lightning the Life of Jim Thorpe by David Maraniss
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