Nevermore 6-11-24: The Cartographers, My Side of the River, The Forgiving Kind

 

Reported by Rita

The Cartographers: a Novel by Peng Shepherd

When her estranged father is found dead with a seemingly worthless map hidden in his desk, cartographer Nell Young soon discovers the map is extremely valuable—and that a mysterious collector will stop at nothing to destroy it and anyone who gets in the way.

 Unbelievable fantasy story, but the maps were very interesting.    – MH     4 stars

 

My Side of the River: a Memoir by Elizabeth Camarillo Gutierrez

Exploring separation, generational trauma, and the toll of the American dream, the author recounts what happened when, at 15, her parents were forced back to Mexico, leaving her and her brother to fend for themselves as underage children affected by broken immigration laws.

  It's a quick read with fascinating characters. Well written.    – KM      5 stars

 

The Forgiving Kind by Donna Everhart

After her beloved father dies in 1950s North Carolina, 12-year-old water diviner Martha "Sonny" Creech must deal with a shady, bigoted neighbor who is trying to insert himself in her family's cotton farm business. By the author of The Education of Dixie Dupree. 

A really good book, but kind of depressing.     – WJ      5 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

The Cider House Rules by John Irving

Before We Were Yours: a Novel by Lisa Wingate

Some Days There's Pie: A Novel by Catherine Landis

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

Cat Confessions: a "Kitty Come Clean" Tell-All Book by Allia Zobel Nolan

The Women by Kristin Hannah

The Ship of Brides: a Novel by Jojo Moyes

Moonrise Over New Jessup by Jamila Minnicks

The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom

Abingdon Boardinghouse Murders by Greg Lilly

 

New Books 

In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face-To-Face With the Idea of an Afterlife by Sebastian Junger

Nevermore: Figures in a Landscape, When the Jessamine Grows, Followed by Frost

 

Nevermore 5-28-24

Reported by Rita

 Figures in a Landscape: People and Places: Essays: 2001-2016 by Paul Theroux

Drawing together a fascinating body of writing from over 14 years of work, Figures in a Landscape ranges from profiles of cultural icons (Oliver Sacks, Elizabeth Taylor, Robin Williams) to intimate personal remembrances, from thrilling adventures in Africa to literary writings from Theroux's rich and expansive personal reading. Collectively, these pieces offer a fascinating portrait of the author himself, his extraordinary life, restless and ever-curious mind.

  Downloaded through the hoopla app – loved it – highly recommend.    – CD     5 stars

 

When the Jessamine Grows by Donna Everhart

With her husband and son off at war, and the burden of running the farm falling to her, Joetta, shunned because she doesn't support the Confederacy's position on slavery, finds one act of kindness, bringing her family to the edge of even greater disaster.

 Really interesting – liked it – worth reading.     – WJ     5 stars

 

Followed by Frost by Charlie N. Holmberg

After being cursed for her cold heart, seventeen-year-old Smitha is forced to retreat to the mountains, where she finds companionship with Death, an enigmatic being who would rather see her rule beside him in the Underworld than live such a frozen existence.

  Didn’t really like this book or author.    – MH    3 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

 

Amazing Men: Courage, Insight, Endurance by Joyce Tenneson

Two Trains Leave the Station: A Meditation on Aging, Alzheimer's, and Arithmetic by Catherine Landis

The Lost City of Z: a Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann

The Golden Apples by Eudora Welty

The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth by Zoèe Schlanger

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

Lost Horizon: a Novel by James Hilton

The Husbands: a Novel by Holly Gramazio

 

New Books

My Beloved Monster: Masha, the Half-Wild Rescue Cat Who Rescued Me by Caleb Carr

The Rulebreaker: the Life and Times of Barbara Walters by Susan Page

Nevermore: Horse, Tracy Flick Can't Win, Trashlands, Saints of Swallow Hill, Promise Girls

 

Reported by Garry

Horse by Geraldine Brooks is the latest from the best-selling author of Caleb’s Crossing, Year of Wonders, and many others. Spanning the years between 1850 and 2019, Horse follows three interconnected timelines; this is the story of Lexington, the fastest horse ever born, and his devoted jockey, Jarrett. A discarded painting, a skeleton in an attic, the duo of Lexington and Jarrett, and the enduring echoes of the Civil War all come together in this book that our reader had a hard time putting down.  WJ

Tracy Flick Can’t Win by Tom Perrotta is the follow-up to his 1998 blockbuster novel Election. Set a couple decades later, Tracy is now the assistant principal at the high school she once attended in suburban New Jersey. Her principal announces unexpectedly that he is resigning, and Tracy guns for the position. But…Vito Falcone – the former star quarterback of the school – comes back to town and he also is aiming for the principal job. Will Tracy prevail? You will have to read this wonderful, heartwarming, and darkly funny book to find out.  NH

Trashlands by Alison Stine is a dystopian look at what may be our future, if the world does not manage to conserve our natural resources. Coral is a young woman in what used to be southeastern Ohio, part of the region called “Scrappalachia”. In this near future novel, plastic can no longer be made after climate change has had drastic consequences. As such a rarity, plastic is prized and recycled, and “pluckers” work long hours to find every scrap to trade for their essential needs. A colorful cast of characters surrounds Coral, as they do their best to survive. Our reader is looking forward to more from this young author.  KP

The Saints of Swallow Hill is a historical novel by Donna Everhart with the unusual setting of turpentine camps during the Great Depression. This harrowing and beautiful story starts in the hills of North Carolina where Rae Lynn Cobb and her husband Warren run a turpentine farm. Calamity befalls Warren, and in order to keep herself out of jail, Rae disguises herself as a man and flees to a squalid, brutal turpentine farm in Georgia, where she must make peace with her past in order to move forward. Our reader recommends this book and was particularly impressed by the amount of historical research Everhart put into bringing an obscure part of American history to life.  ML

The Promise Girls by Marie Bostwick is the story of three unconventional sisters and their narcissistic mother who raised them to be geniuses in various fields – whether they liked it or not. Decades after their mother published a tell-all that made the children household names, she wants to reunite the family for a documentary film. Meg, the artist who hasn’t picked up a paintbrush in years absolutely refuses to participate until she is in a car crash that leaves her with crippling bills. The filmmaker, Hal Seeger, himself a former child prodigy, uncovers long buried secrets and helps the sisters learn how to forge their own lives.  BM

Also mentioned:

Fears of a Setting Sun: The Disillusionment of America’s Founders by Dennis C. Rasmussen
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
Death at Greenway by Lori Rader-Day
Swimming with Jonah by Audrey Schulman
Monsignor Quixote by Graham Greene
Memoir of an Independent Woman: An Unconventional Life Well Lived by Tania Grossinger
Emergency!: True Stories from the Nation’s ERs by Mark Brown, M.D.
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Lost World of James Smithson: Science, Revolution, and the Birth of the Smithsonian by Heather Ewing