Nevermore: My Name is Red, Himself: A Novel, The Covenant of Water

 Reported by Rita

My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk

A furor erupts when the Sultan hires a group of artists, under the direction of Master Uncle, to illuminate a great book in the European style to celebrate his reign at a time in which all figurative art is considered Islamic heresy, but the situation becomes worse when one of the miniaturists vanishes, in a mystery set against the backdrop of religious repression in sixteenth-century Istanbul.

Could not put it down – immediately reread it.  – DC     5 stars 

Himself: a Novel by Jess Kidd

When he discovers that his mother may not have given him up, but that foul play may have led to her disappearance, lovable car thief and Dublin charmer Mahony returns to the rural Irish Village where he was born to find out what really happened 26 years ago and, setting the town on its ear, enlists the help of a brash anarchist and retired theater actress to solve this mystery.

Incredibly clever – loved it.  - MH     4.5 stars

 

The Covenant of Water: a Novel by Abraham Verghese

Spanning the years 1900 to 1977, and set in Kerala, on South India's Malabar Coast, an epic of love, faith, and medicine follows three generations of a family that suffers a peculiar affliction: in every generation, at least one person dies by drowning.

A literary wonder – highly recommend.  – VC     5 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

1912 Facts about Titanic by Lee W. Merideth

Nora Bonesteel's Christmas Past by Sharyn McCrumb

Without Warning: The Tornado of Udall, Kansas by Jim Minick

The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant

Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

Andrew Johnson by Annette Gordon-Reed

The Night of the Storm: a Novel by Nishita Parekh

The Speckled Beauty: a Dog and His People by Rick Bragg

Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness by Peter Kuper

The Magic All Around by Jennifer Moorman

 

 

New Books

The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly

A Wild and Heavenly Place: a Novel by Robin Oliveira

1001 Dreams: the Complete Book of Dream Interpretations by Cassandra Eason

Bittersweet in the Hollow by Kate Pearsall