Nevermore around the world: Sharyn McCrumb, Martin Sixsmith, Edward Gibbon and more!

Frog Music by Emma Donoghue continues to be passed from reader to reader at the Nevermore table.  While verdicts vary on the book, it was agreed that the two narratives running through the book made it a little confusing.  The two threads are intertwined, but occur only four days apart.  For a somewhat confusing or possibly a great book about San Francisco in 1876, check out Frog Music.

Another reader had just finished King’s Mountain by Sharyn McCrumb.  From the description of the events surrounding the Revolutionary War battle of King’s Mountain, our reader thought that the battle must have raged for months.  However, the actual engagement only lasted about two weeks, and the battle itself encompassed only sixty-five minutes.  Our reader enjoyed the book, as many others have as well.

The Guts by Roddy Doyle was again brought to the table.  Irishman Jimmy Rabbitte has been on a quest to gather old folk music and reunite bands which may want to make a comeback.  Incidentally, the Pope is coming to visit Ireland for the first time since 1932.  Our reader would love to see this book made into a movie.

Staying with the Ireland theme, Philomena by Martin Sixsmith put in an appearance.  Our reader noted that the incredible detail written in the first few pages was impossible to portray in the recent movie of the same name.  However, the movie was promoted as very powerful because it was stripped down to the essential story line.

Continuing with Ireland, a particular chapter was mentioned in Shakespeare’s Restless World: A Portrait of an Era in Twenty Objects by Neil MacGregor.  In the chapter entitled: “Ireland: Failures in the Present”, the author mentions that the largest army ever assembled in England was under King Henry V in order to put down an Irish rebellion.  The Irish fighters were known as particularly savage, using guerrilla-like tactics to defend their territory.

Heading back to the United States, Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff was mentioned.  By a journalist, the book is a very personal journey through the chaos and corruption that fills Detroit.  As the decay of Detroit has been in the news lately, general opinion around the table is that Detroit has hope and may turn around to be re-born as a smaller, better city, much like New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Another reader has just begun The Passage by Justin Cronin.  Described as “sort of science fiction” with secret government experiments going on, our reader is looking forward to finishing the rest of the book.

Finally, another reader confessed to reading The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon, but only in the abridged version.  Originally published in six volumes between 1776-1789, we can’t fault our reader for taking on the somewhat ambitious task of reading a mere 700 pages or so.

Nevermore: Brazil, Ireland, America, England and more!

Brazil by Michael Palin was touted as a fascinating book, very engaging, that really brings the flavor of Brazil through on the pages.  Palin takes his readers on an incredible journey from the stomping grounds of the wealthy elite to the tiny villages where tribe members live as their ancestors did.  With the spectacular beauty of towering waterfalls and remote wilderness, Brazil provides an experience unlike any other.  With a travel documentary produced by BBC, Brazil has caught the attention of readers and viewers alike.

Jud departed from his well-known affection for non-fiction by taking on The Guts by Roddy Doyle.  The Irish writer has brought back Jimmy Rabbitte from his debut novel The Commitments.  A 1980’s soul band, The Commitments was Jimmy’s band of his youth.  Now that he is a middle aged family man diagnosed with cancer, Jimmy reconnects with his old bandmates and finds new meaning in his more mature life.

Upton Sinclair by Lauren Coodley is continuing to be passed around the Nevermore table.  A crusader for social inequities in the United States a century ago, Sinclair has been brought back to life in this new biography, his first written by a woman.  Our current reader is not finished with it yet, but is enjoying the fascinating writing.

Frog Music by Emma Donoghue is another book that has been shared among our readers, enjoyed by some and not by others.  A story of the seamy underworld of gamblers and prostitutes in San Francisco, the current reader says she has been “suffering through this thing” and she just can’t get into it.

Elizabeth Fremantle’s Queen’s Gambit is being enjoyed by another reader, although she admits to just skimming through as it is mainly driven by a romantic storyline.  In fact, she called it “almost a bodice ripper”.  The cover doesn’t have Fabio on it, but the book is loaded with the romantic story of Katherine Parr and the powerful King Henry VIII.  Despite falling in love with Thomas Seymour, Katherine must marry the King and do his bidding.

The Age of Edison: Electric Light and the Invention of Modern America by Ernest Freeberg rounded out Nevermore’s selections this week.  Edison’s incandescent light bulb changed the world in the 1880’s as cities were brightened as if by magic.  The concept of putting a small filament of exactly the right material in a glass globe with no air was groundbreaking.  People gathered to see the banishment of night.  Not just lighting up the world, the transmission of electricity advanced the development of appliances such as heaters, coolers, streetcars and elevators, just to name a few.