Nevermore: Buckeye, Call of the Wild, How the World Ran Out of Everything, The Women, Molly and the Cat Cafe

 

12-30-25

 

Our first reader picked up Buckeye by Patrick Ryan, which has been generating a lot of interest as a Read with Jenna book club pick. Set in small town Ohio during and following World War II, this is a story of love and secrets in middle America. Highly recommended!

 

One of our young readers who attends Nevermore with a parent during school breaks read The Call of the Wild by Jack London. Buck, the canine main character, reminded our reader of their dog Millie. Next up by the same author: To Build a Fire.

 

A non-fiction title that our book club member summarized as “greed is ruining the world” was How the World Ran Out of Everything: Inside the Global Supply Chain by Peter S. Goodman. The author describes how companies will do absolutely anything to get results and to make profit, regardless of the fallout.

 

Another reader picked up The Women by Kristin Hannah. This reader noted that the second part of the book, when Frances “Frankie” McGrath returns to the United States, felt like an entirely different book from her Vietnam combat nursing experience.

 

Two books by Melissa Daley, Molly and the Cat Café and Christmas at the Cat Café were called light, fun reads, appropriate to the holiday season. (We can’t argue, as we like cat books around here.)

 

Also mentioned:

 

Hastings (Battles That Changed the World) by Samuel Willard Crompton

 

The Quiet Little Woman by Louisa May Alcott

  

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi

 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

  

The Engine House by Rhys Dylan

 

The Truth about the Devlins by Lisa Scottoline

  

Read Your Mind: Proven Habits for Success from the World's Greatest Mentalist by Oz Pearlman

 

Always Remember: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, the Horse and the Storm by Charlie Mackesy

Nevermore: Shantaram, Library of Lost Dollhouses, The Women

Nevermore 10-21-25

Reported by Rita

 

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

Based on his own extraordinary life, Gregory David Roberts' Shantaram is a mesmerizing novel about a man on the run who becomes entangled within the underworld of 1980s Bombay--the basis for the Apple + TV series starring Charlie Hunnam. It took me a long time and most of the world to learn what I know about love and fate and the choices we make, but the heart of it came to me in an instant, while I was chained to a wall and being tortured. An escaped convict with a false passport, Lin flees maximum security prison in Australia for the teeming streets of Bombay, where he can disappear.

I really liked the first half and learned a lot. I didn't care for the second half. - MH 5 stars

 

The Library of Lost Dollhouses by Elise Hooper

When a young librarian discovers historic dollhouses in a hidden room, she embarks on an unexpected journey that reveals surprising secrets about the lost miniatures.

Interesting and mysterious. It's a nice escape from reality. - WJ 4 stars

 

The Women by Kristin Hannah

In 1965, nursing student Frankie McGrath joins the Army Nurse Corps in Vietnam, facing life-and-death situations and deep friendships, before confronting challenges of returning to a divided America.

I liked the story. It was interesting and well researched. I thought it felt a little preachy at the end. - VC 4 stars 

 

Other Books Mentioned

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Al Capone Does My Shirts (Tales from Alcatraz, #1) by Gennifer Choldenko

The Crystal Cave (Arthurian Saga, #1) by Mary Stewart

How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr

The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye (Millennium, #5) by David Lagercrantz

The Girl Who Lived Twice (Millennium, #6) by David Lagercrantz

The White Dawn: An Eskimo Saga by James A. Houston

The Last Gentleman Adventurer: Coming of Age in the Arctic by Edward Beauclerk Maurice

The Snake Scientist by Sy Montgomery

The Octopus Scientists: Exploring the Mind of a Mollusk by Sy Montgomery

Inside Animal Minds: The New Science of Animal Intelligence by Virginia Morell, Mary Roach, Peter Miller

Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry

National Library Week Staff Picks: Candess, Michelle, Taylor, Tonia

 In honor of National Library Week, we asked Staff members to pick out some of their favorite books from the past couple of years.  We'll be posting picks every day this week.  As a bonus, library director Tonia Kestner will have a brief review each day. Enjoy!

Tonia

The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister

 

I really enjoyed The Bog Wife, a haunting and beautifully written Appalachian tale set in the hills of West Virginia. The story has a dreamlike, fantastical quality that draws you in from the beginning, but what stuck with me most was how grounded it is in family—especially the complicated bond between siblings. The characters are so well-developed that I found myself deeply invested in each of them as they struggled to navigate the crumbling world around them.

The setting—a decaying family mansion near a mysterious bog—is rich with atmosphere, and the sense of desperation that builds as the expected “bog wife” fails to appear was both eerie and emotional. I loved how the book explored the tension between honoring a dark family legacy and trying to carve out your own path. It doesn’t offer easy answers, and by the end I had more questions than resolutions—but in a good way. It’s the kind of story that lingers and makes you think long after it’s over. I keep hoping there will be a sequel, but in the meantime, this is a great choice for book clubs. There’s so much to unpack and discuss, and it’s a story that really stays with you.

Candess

The Inmate by Freida McFadden 

The Burning by Linda Castillo 

Counting Miracles by Nicholas Sparks 

Demon Copperhead  by Barbara Kingsolver

Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

    

 

Michelle

Sound of Glass by Karen White

Flight Patterns by Karen White

 

Taylor N.

 Bless the Blood: A Cancer Memoir by Walela Nehanda  (YA)

Nevermore: Fortunes, Calamity of Souls, Four Winds

 

Nevermore 12-3-24

Reported by Rita

 

The Fortunes by Peter Ho Davies

Explores a century of American history through the lives of Chinese Americans, using the lives of four individuals to depict how an immigrant community survives and ultimately becomes American.

 It is beautifully written, but I thought it got too wordy towards the end.    – KN     3 stars

 

A Calamity of  Souls by David Baldacci

In a Virginia courtroom in 1968, a reluctant white lawyer and a dedicated black attorney must bridge their differences to fight for a Black man's life against racial prejudice and powerful forces seeking to undo civil rights progress.

While it started slow, it picked up, and I enjoyed the surprise ending.     - NH     4 stars

 

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

In 1934, during the Great Depression, Elsa Martinelli, battling against nature on the Great Plains, must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or leave it behind and go west to California in search of a better life for her family.

Beautiful. A real page-turner. I loved it!     - GP      5 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

Dogs of the Cariboo and Other Stories by Mary Gentry

Horses of War by Duff Hart-Davis

Blind Spots by Marty Makary

Campbell's Rambles by Patty L. Fletcher

The Best American Travel Writing 2015 by Andrew McCarthy

The Killing Snows: The Defining Novel of the Great Irish Famine by Charles Egan

The Lark by Edith Nesbit

Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo

Trippy by Ernesto Londoäno

Han Fei Tzu Basic Writings by Burton Watson

God, Dr. Buzzard, and the Bolito Man by Cornelia Bailey

The Bible As It Was by James L. Kugel

Cat Pictures Please by Naomi Kritzer

The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki

The Cat Who Saved Books by Såosuke Natsukawa

 

New Books

The Small and the Mighty by Sharon McMahon

The Colony Club by Shelley Noble

One Life by Barbara Winton

Book and Dagger by Elyse Graham

National Geographic Bucket List Family Travel by Jessica Gee

Nevermore: The Women, Lie Down in Darkness, Smitten

 

Nevermore 11-19-24

Reported by Rita

The Women by Hannah, Kristin

In 1965, nursing student Frankie McGrath, after hearing the words “Women can be heroes, too,” impulsively joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows her brother to Vietnam where she is overwhelmed by the destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America.

Awesome book! It was very touching. I couldn’t put it down.     - GP       5 stars

Lie Down in Darkness by Styron, William Clark

William Styron traces the betrayals and infidelities—the heritage of spite and endlessly disappointed love—that afflict the members of a Southern family and that culminate in the suicide of the beautiful Peyton Loftis.

I didn’t like it. I didn’t like any of the characters.      - CD     1 star

 

Smitten by McKenna, Rachael

In a kitten's-eye view of the world, an acclaimed animal photographer captures a series of images of charming kittens as they play, explore, find mischief, and sleep, accompanied by memorable quotations on everything from the importance of curiosity to the joy of a good nap.

Full of photos of absolutely adorable kittens. Charming!     - MS      5 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

A Pair of Wings by Hopson, Carole

Ethan Frome by Wharton, Edith

Rules of Civility by Towles, Amor

The Coal Tattoo by House, Silas

Relatively Dead by Connolly, Sheila

Bloodlands by Snyder, Timothy

High Tide by Ābele, Inga

 

New Books

Lovely One by Jackson, Ketanji Brown

Walk, Ride, Paddle by Kaine, Timothy M.

The Paranormal Ranger by Milford, Stanley.

Sharks Don't Sink by Graham, Jasmin

The Danish Secret to Happy Kids by Russell, Helen

Nevermore: The Women; The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse; Ethan Frome

 

Reported by Rita

The Women by Kristin Hannah

In 1965, nursing student Frankie McGrath, after hearing the words “Women can be heroes, too,” impulsively joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows her brother to Vietnam where she is overwhelmed by the destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America.

I thought it was too formulaic and not realistic. I didn’t enjoy it.  – CD     3 stars

 

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

A  modern, illustrated fable for readers of all ages that explores life's universal lessons from British illustrator Charlie Mackesy.

The most beautiful book I’ve ever read. The art is fantastic. It’s full of hope, love, and promise. Uplifting.  – NH    5 stars

 

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton

A New England farmer must choose between his duty to care for his invalid wife and his love for her cousin.

It’s a very sad story, but worth reading. It was a quick, easy read. I loved it.  – DC      5 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

Suffrage Song: the Haunted History of Gender, Race and Voting Rights in the United States of America by Caitlin Cass

Katharine, the Wright Sister by Tracey Enerson Wood

The Life Impossible by Matt Haig

The Paris Secret by Karen Swan

Selected Stories by William Trevor

Unbelievable Crimes Volume One: Macabre Yet Unknown True Crime Stories by Daniela Airlie

Unbelievable Crimes Volume Two: Macabre Yet Unknown True Crime Stories by Daniela Airlie

These Tangled Threads by Sarah Loudin Thomas

The Art of the English Murder by Lucy Worsley

The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon

 

New Books

At War With Ourselves by H. R. McMaster

That Librarian by Amanda Jones

The Art of Gothic Living by Paul Gambino

Nevermore: Four Winds, Tenant of WIldfell Hall, Migrations, Thinking Fast and Slow

Nevermore Book Club Writeup: 6/15/21

As reported by Abby

We had a great turnout this week for the Nevermore Book Club! There was a wide variety of books to discuss as per usual. 

 

We began with Kristin Hannah’s newest novel, The Four Winds. This book is set in 1934 Texas during the Dust Bowl era and the Great Depression. The story follows Elsa Wolcott as she struggles to overcome poverty as a single mother after her husband has left her. Elsa has an enormous decision to make. Should she move out west to California in search of a better life (and cleaner air) for her son? Or should she remain in her hometown and tough it out until things improve? Our reader commended Hannah’s use of character development and emotion to drive the story forward. It may not be the happiest of subjects, but the novel is in the distinct Kristin Hannah style that readers have come to love. 

 

Our next reader reviewed The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë, the youngest of the Brontë sisters. This classic novel was written in 1848 and was published under the pseudonym “Acton Bell.” The reader mentioned that Charlotte Brontë had attempted to hide this book from the world after Anne had passed away due to its considerably “profane” content. Protagonist Helen Huntingdon has chosen to leave her alcoholic husband for the sake of protecting her child from his abuse. She flees to Wildfell Hall with her son in tow where she meets another man who falls in love with her. The reader was highly impressed with this novel, especially with Brontë’s ability to describe the ruinous effects of alcoholism on a family. 

 

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy was the next book in line. The reader only had positive things to say about this moving, fictional tale exploring the migration patterns of endangered Arctic terns, and a woman’s yearning to leave her troubled life behind to follow them to Antarctica. “The story was so compelling that I couldn’t put it down. It’s the best book I’ve read in years!” exclaimed our reader to the astonished room of book lovers. The reader also complimented the author and knew that McConaghy will have great things in store for the future.

 

The following book discussed was Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. Kahneman is an Israeli-American psychologist and also a Nobel Prize winner in Economics. He wrote this book to document his analysis of the human brain. He splits our way of thinking into two systems. One system is faster and more intuitive, while the other system requires slower processing and is more deliberate. The reader found this book to be quite informative and engaging. Their only regret was wishing they had read it sooner.

Also mentioned:

When A Stranger Comes To Town by Michael Koryta et al.
True Crime Case Histories Volume 4 by Jason Neal
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina
Hanged Man by Orson Scott Card
Brief Cases by Jim Butcher
A Map of the World by Jane Hamilton
Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris
The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris

 Imperial Woman by Pearl S. Buck
Paris Trout by Peter Dexter
Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin
On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
The Ride of Her Life: The True Story of a Woman, Her Horse, and Their Last Chance Journey Across America by Elizabeth Letts
All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles
After the Fall: Being American in the World We’ve Made by Ben Rhodes
The Plague Year: America in the Time of Covid by Lawrence Wright
Homegrown Humus: Cover Crops in a No-Till Garden by Anna Hess
Kin: A Memoir by Shawna Kay Rodenberg