Wednesday, June 10, 2026

Nevermore: Strawberry Girl, Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, Unlikely Thru-Hiker

 

Nevermore 5-5-26                Reported by Rita

 


Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski

The land was theirs, but so were its hardships. Strawberries - big, ripe, and juicy. Ten-year-old Birdie Boyer can hardly wait to start picking them. But her family has just moved to the Florida backwoods, and they haven't even begun their planting. Don't count your biddies 'fore they're hatched, gal young un! her father tells her. Making the new farm prosper is not easy. There is heat to suffer through, and droughts, and cold snaps. And, perhaps most worrisome of all for the Boyers, there are rowdy neighbors, just itching to start a feud.

Slightly weird, but fascinating.     -AH     5 stars 

 


The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

Fried Green Tomatoes and Steel Magnolias meet Dracula in this Southern-flavored supernatural thriller set in the '90s about a women's book club that must protect its suburban community from a mysterious and handsome stranger who turns out to be a blood-sucking fiend.

Funny at times - it was pretty good.       -MH     4 stars

 


The Unlikely Thru-Hiker: An Appalachian Trail Journey by Derick Lugo

Derick Lugo had never been hiking. He didn't even know if he liked being outside all that much. He certainly couldn't imagine going more than a day without manicuring his goatee. But with a job overseas cut short and no immediate plans, this fixture of the greater New York comedy circuit began to think about what he might do with months of free time and no commitments. He had heard of the Appalachian Trail and knew of its potential for danger and adventure, but he had never seriously considered attempting to hike all 2,190 miles of it. Until that summer left him with a wide-open schedule and a burning curiosity to know: Could he do it? The Unlikely Thru-Hiker is the story of how a young black man from the city, unfamiliar with both the outdoors and thru-hiking culture, sets off with an extremely overweight pack and a willfully can-do attitude to conquer the infamous trail. What follows are lessons on preparation, humility, and nature's wild unpredictability. But this isn't a hard-nosed memoir of discouragement. What sets Lugo apart from the typical walk in the woods is his refusal to let any challenge squash his inner Pollyanna. Through it all, Lugo perseveres with humor, tenacity, and an unshakeable commitment to grooming--earning him the trail name "Mr. Fabulous"--that sees him from Springer Mountain in Georgia to Katahdin in Maine.

 

I thought this was sweet, and I appreciate how respectful the author is of the region. It's a great book.      -HM       5 stars

 

 

Other Books Mentioned

 

The Book of Vice by Peter Sagel

The Edge of Nowhere by William Johnstone

The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin

Tom Paine's War by Jack Kelly

Brooklyn by Colm Tobin

The Patron Saint of Lost Dogs by Nick Trout

How the Heather Looks: A Joyous Journey to the British Sources of Children's Books by Joan Bodger

A Short History of Ancient Rome: Experience the Daily Life and Dramatic Conquests of the Roman Empire by Pascal Hughes

 

 

New Books

 

Death in the Palace by Barbara Hambly

The Widow Hamilton by Mollie Ann Cox

Starry and Restless by Julia Cooke

Murder Mindfully by Karsten Dusse

North of Ordinary by Sue Aikens

You Only Live Nine Times by Gwen Cooper

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