Nevermore: One Day Everyone Will Always Have Been Against This, Carved in Bone, Fox & I

 

Nevermore 9-15-26             Reported by Rita

 

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad

One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This chronicles the deep fracture which has occurred for Black, brown, indigenous Americans, as well as the upcoming generation, many of whom had clung to a thread of faith in western ideals, in the idea that their countries, or the countries of their adoption, actually attempted to live up to the values they espouse. This book is a reckoning with what it means to live in the west, and what it means to live in a world run by a small group of countries—America, the UK, France and Germany.  It will be The Fire Next Time for a generation that understands we’re undergoing a shift in the so-called ‘rules-based order,’ a generation that understands the west can no longer be trusted to police and guide the world, or its own cities and campuses. It draws on intimate details of Omar’s own story as an emigrant who grew up believing in the western project, who was catapulted into journalism by the rupture of 9/11.

Somewhat informative - highly repetitive.       -NH      4 stars

 

 

Carved in Bone by Jefferson Bass

Renowned anthropologist Dr. Bill Brockton has spent his career surrounded by death at the Body Farm. Now he's being called upon to help solve a baffling puzzle in a remote mountain community. The mummified corpse of a young woman dead for thirty years has been discovered in a cave, the body bizarrely preserved and transformed by the environment's unique chemistry. But Brockton's investigation is threatening to open old wounds among an insular people who won't forget or forgive. And a long-buried secret prematurely exposed could inflame Brockton's own guilt—and the dangerous hostility of bitter enemies determined to see him fail . . . by any means necessary.

I love everything by Dr. Bass!     -CD        5 stars

 

Fox & I by Catherine Raven

Catherine Raven left home at fifteen, fleeing an abusive, disdainful father and an indifferent mother. More comfortable in nature than among people, she worked as a National Park ranger, eventually earning a PhD in biology. She built a house on an isolated plot of land in Montana, teaching remotely and leading field classes. One day, she realized that the mangy-looking fox who had been appearing on her property was now showing up every day at 4:15 p.m. She had never had a regular visitor before. How do you even talk to a fox? So, she brought out her camping chair, sat as close to him as she dared, and began reading to him from The Little Prince. Her scientific training had taught her not to anthropomorphize animals, but as she grew to know him, his personality revealed itself--and he became her friend. But friends cannot always save each other from the uncontained forces of nature. Fox and I is a poignant and dramatic tale of friendship, transformation, and coping with inevitable loss--and of how that loss can become meaningful. It is also the introduction of an original, imaginative, stunning literary voice.

I really enjoyed it. The author has a real knack for observational writing.      -PP       4 stars

 

 

Other Books Mentioned

How Stella Learned to Talk by Christina Hunger

The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout

Real Murders by Charlaine Harris

A Bone to Pick by Charlaine Harris

The Last Ballad by Wiley Cash

 

New Books

Plant Lady by Minyoung Kang

Ode to the Half-Broken by Suzanne Palmer

The Subtle Pleasures of Indiscretion by Alexander McCall Smith

Secret Wonders of the World by Lonely Planet

Retro by Jessica M. Goldstein