Nevermore: Black Like Me, An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good, Oona Out of Order

 Reported by Garry

Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin is a groundbreaking 1961 non-fiction book recounting the author’s journey through the Deep South of America during segregation.  Griffin, who was a white Texan, underwent medical treatment to darken his skin so he could pass as Black.  He then travelled through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Georgia, documenting his experiences.  According to our reader, Griffin was treated better in New Orleans than elsewhere in the South, but event that is a relative term, as he was still routinely at the receiving end of “hate stares” from white people, and was not able to use restrooms, public transportation or be seated at restaurants.  Our reader was saddened and shocked by the lack of progress that our society has made since Griffin undertook his journey in 1959, but very highly recommends this book for its historical perspective.  CD

An Elderly Lady is Up To No Good by Helene Tursten is the first in her Elderly Lady series.  Maud is an 88 year old grump with no family, few friends, and even fewer qualms about offing those she deems need it.  Maud lives by herself (which is the way she likes it) in her family’s apartment in Gothenburg, spending her time traveling the world and surfing the net, and dabbling in murder, which she not only easily justifies, but gets away with – after all, who would suspect a little old lady of being a cold-blooded murderer?  Our reader loves this book for its quirky irascible leading lady, and her darkly humorous, matter-of-fact ways of deciding who should live and who should be disposed of.  SC

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore.  New Year’s Eve, 1982 - Oona Lockhart will turn 19 at the stroke of midnight, and embark on her adult life.  As the clock counts down, Oona faints and wakes up 32 years in the future, in a now 51 year old body, in a house she is told that she owns, and to the news that every year on the strike of New Year she will jump at random to another time in her body.  Where in her life will she jump to next and who will she be?  Our reader really loved this book and noted that even though Oona may be “old” on the outside, she is still 19 in her mind, a state that many of the Nevermores echoed is the case for them right now.  MH

Other books mentioned:

Southwest Saga:  The Way It Really Was by William C. McGaw

The Lake Wobegon Virus by Garrison Keillor

Emily’s House by Amy Belding Brown

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

Marmee by Sarah Miller

Mad at the World: A Life of John Steinbeck by William Souder

Three Visitors to Early Plymouth by Emmanuel Altham

They Knew: How a Culture of Conspiracy Keeps America Complacent by Sarah Kendzior

Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult

Theft of an Idol by Dana Stabenow

How it Went by Wendell Berry

Deliberate Cruelty:  Truman Capote, the Millionaire’s Wife, and the Murder of the Century by Roseanne Montillo

Defending Alice:  A Novel of Love and Race in the Roaring Twenties by Richard Stratton

War by Sebastian Junger

Nevermore: Tursten, Secret Service, Appalachian Women, Turton, Bardugo, Jones

Reported by Kristin

Nevermore revisited a humorous little book which made the rounds last year, An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten. Translated from Swedish, this small book of stories revolves around Maud, an 88-year-old who plans to keep her inherited rent-free apartment for as long as humanly possible. Morals be damned, Maud knows what she wants and will do whatever she needs to make that happen. Our current reader called this a must-read, and noted that she loves this woman because she knows how to solve problems.

Another reader highly recommended The Secret Service: The Field, The Dungeon, and The Escape by Albert Deane Richardson. This account is not about the current day Secret Service, but written by a New York journalist who covered events before and during the Civil War in Mississippi. Our book club member noted that the language used was slightly different than we usually hear today, but that it was really good and easy to read.

Returning to the present, another reader picked up Voices Worth the Listening: Three Women of Appalachia by Thomas G. Burton. This powerful slim volume recounts the stories of three women from different backgrounds, although with common threads. Two were white women and the other was black, and our reader was able to empathize with their stories of family, drugs, education, and poverty set against the backdrop of the Appalachians. The depth of the struggles and the enduring hopes make these voices well worth the listening.

The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton has been making the rounds of Nevermore. This week, our reader only commented that it was hard to get started and that the story kicked in after about fifty pages. (Read past bookblog posts for more!)

Another thumbs down was given for Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. While this thriller received some rave reviews online, the murder and mayhem set at Yale University just didn’t feel realistic to our reader, and she moved on to another.

First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones was also declared unrealistic, but hilariously funny and well worth reading. Charley Davidson is a private investigator with some pretty unusual abilities, such as being able to see dead people, and help them with their unfinished business so that they can move along to the afterworld. The paranormal aspects of the story are handled in a very humorous manner, and our reader called this first in a series of thirteen a very fun book.

Another reader agreed that Darynda Jones was rather funny, and noted that she was reading A Bad Day for Sunshine, the first in a new series featuring New Mexico sheriff Sunshine Vicram. Returning to her hometown of Del Sol after more than a decade away, Sunshine finds all sorts of challenges such as feuding neighbors, kidnapped teenagers, and hot men. While our book club member did not find it to be quality literature, it was light reading, which is sometimes needed in these trying times.

Nevermore: Elderly Lady, Medicine Men, Threat, Heartbeat of Wounded Knee, Her One Mistake, Where the Crawdads Sing

Reported by Kristin

Nevermore began with laughter, as one reviewer reported on An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten as absolutely delightful.  Tursten is a well-known Swedish mystery author, but took the challenge to create a new character for a Christmas short-story anthology.  Thus, 88-year-old Maud was created.  Maud is indeed up to no good, and our reader commented that this set of tales shows that when you get older, you don’t have to get dumber.

Another reader picked up Medicine Men: Extreme Appalachian Doctoring by Carolyn Jourdan, a collection of doctors’ stories in the southern Appalachians.  Miracle cures and old wives tales abound and the dialect is preserved in print.  Jourdan lives near Sevierville, so her writing has the flavor of this region.  While our reader very much enjoyed the book, she found most of the stories rather unbelievable.

The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump by Andrew McCabe was next discussed around the table.  McCabe served as Deputy Director of the FBI for two years as well as being named Acting Director for a short time in 2017.  The volume deals with how the FBI is organized and McCabe’s career, only delving into more recent political maneuverings in the last 50 pages or so.  Our reader highly recommended this as she perceived McCabe to be a very intelligent man with a well-written book.

Another book club member enjoyed a recent New York Times Bestseller, The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present by David Treuer.  Pointing out that Native American culture did not end at Wounded Knee in 1890, but was forced to forge a new identity amidst the overwhelming non-Native, mostly European, influences in the United States.  Treuer argues that these struggles caused Native Americans to build stronger communities as they sought to preserve their language and traditions.  Our reader found the book very touching and descriptive of how Native Americans have fitted into mainstream life as well as maintaining their own tribal identities.

A psychological thriller made its way into the book club discussion with Her One Mistake by Heidi Perks.  Charlotte has taken her children along with Alice, her friend Harriet’s daughter, to the school fair for a day of fun.  But when Alice disappears, the tragedy breaks apart the women’s friendship.  Our reader said that there were plenty of twists and turns, and that she almost had the plot figured out, but not exactly.  This is one book that will keep readers reading late into the night.

Finally, another reader very much enjoyed another recent bestseller, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.  On the North Carolina coast, Barkley Cove is a small town full of natural beauty.  When young Kya Clark is abandoned by her parents and grows up in the salt marshes, she becomes a bit feared for her eccentricities.  When a young man is murdered, Kya, the “Marsh Girl,” is immediately suspected.  Owens’ literary debut and huge success has been hailed as beautiful and moving.  Our reader claimed that she was surprised by the ending, but overall loved the book.

Nevermore: An Elderly Lady Is Up To No Good, Ice Swimmer, Never Cry Wolf, Someone, Eternal Wonder, American Marriage

Reported by Ambrea

This week, Nevermore started their gathering with An Elderly Lady is up to No Good by Helene Tursten, translated by Marlene Delargy.  Thanks to a clause in a hastily negotiated contract, 88-year-old Maud has been living rent-free in her family’s apartment in Gothenburg and she spends her days traveling the world, surfing the net, and enjoying her solitary existence.  She likes living alone and, when problems arise, she doesn’t let a little thing like murder get in her way.  Our reader absolutely adored reading Tursten’s story collection.  She joked that she wanted to be like Maud.  “I don’t necessarily want to kill people,” she explained, “but, if I see a problem, I want to be able to solve it.”  She highly recommended An Elderly Lady is up to No Good, saying it was a treat to read.

Next, Nevermore checked out The Ice Swimmer, the sixth book in the Oslo Detective series by Kjell Ola Dahl.  When a dead man is found in the freezing waters of Oslo Harbor, Detective Lena Stigersand isn’t happy to add another weight to her already complicated life.  But, as she investigates what happened to the man discovered beneath the ice, she finds the murder may be linked to a conspiracy—that reaches deep into the heart of the Norwegian government.  Our reader enjoyed Dahl’s novel.  She told her fellow Nevermore members that she’s a very big fan of Nordic noir and The Ice Swimmer really fits the bill.  Well written but not especially gruesome, Dahl’s novel seemed to hit all the right notes.

Switching to nonfiction, Nevermore explored Never Cry Wolf:  Amazing True Story of Life Among Arctic Wolves by Farley Mowat.  When Farley Mowat was sent by the Canadian Wildlife Service to investigate why arctic wolves were killing caribou, he spends months living alongside these creatures, developing a deep affection for the wolves and a local tribe of Inuit people known as the Ihalmiut (or “People of the Deer”).  Our reader said Mowat’s book was absolutely wonderful.  She loved that the author personalized the wolves—that is, he let their personalities shine through.  She really liked his writing and she enjoyed learning more about wolves, the Inuit, and conservation efforts.  She highly recommended it to her fellow readers, especially those who are fans of Jane Goodall.

Nevermore returned to the realm of fiction with a look at Someone, a novel by Alice McDermott, which tells the story of Marie, an ordinary woman with an ordinary life—and takes a glimpse at how the ordinary can be truly beautiful.  Our reader, who absolutely loves Alice McDermott’s work, said she enjoyed Someone immensely.  Although it was only a look at the life of one ordinary woman, it felt like an epic story with its twists and turns going from Marie’s childhood to her marriage to the disruption of World War II.  “It was fascinating,” our reader gushed, to see how McDermott could take an average story and make it so beautiful, so vibrant and lovely.

Next, Nevermore shared The Eternal Wonder, a final novel by Pearl S. Buck published nearly forty years after her death.  Randolph Colfax (also known as Rann) is an extraordinarily gifted young man, a man with an eternal sense of wonder that leads him from his small town in Ohio to New York, England, Paris, and beyond.  When he meets the beautiful and equally brilliant Stephanie Kung, he finds himself falling for her, even as they both struggle to reconcile their identities within the world and find a sense of meaning.  Our reader, who has explored Buck’s novels in the past, said this latest story was interesting.  It felt like a bit of a departure from the author’s usual style; however, our reader said she liked The Eternal Wonder and definitely found it worth reading.

Last, Nevermore wrapped their meeting up with An American Marriage by Tayari Jones.  Celestial and Roy are young, newly married, and incredibly happy.  He is a young executive, while she is an artist on the brink of an exciting career; however, when Roy is charged with a crime he didn’t commit, they find themselves growing distant as they learn to lead very different lives.  Our reader said she loved reading An American Marriage.  The novel, she noted, felt intimate and moving, combining heartbreak and hope and insight into human foibles to create a story that was singularly extraordinary.  She loved it, and she highly recommended it to her fellow readers.