Nevermore: Vance Journal, From Sand and Ash, Lies My Doctor Told Me

 

Reported by Rita

John Vance Journal by LaDell W. Vance

The journals of a Mormon pioneer. His account of his journey to Utah.

Absolutely fascinating! Thorough daily journaling of diverse experiences.   -KN    5 stars

 

From Sand and Ash by Amy Harmon

A historical fiction novel set in Italy during World War II. The story revolves around Eva Rosselli and Angelo Bianco, who were raised like family but are separated by religion and circumstance. As adults, they find themselves falling in love, but Angelo's path to the priesthood leads to their separation.

Thought-provoking and full of well-researched historical aspects.   - WJ   5 stars

Lies My Doctor Told Me: Medical Myths That Can Harm Your Health by Ken D. Berry

A book about nutrition and life choices, their role in your health, and how to begin an educated conversation with your doctor about finding the right path for you.

I like the way the book is formatted. I found it easy to read and well-organized.   - CD   5 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

 

The Peshawar Lancers by S.M. Stirling

Last Twilight in Paris by Pam Jenoff

Empire of Illusion by Chris Hedges

Saints and Villains by Denise Giardina

Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling

Wild Decembers by Edna O'Brien

Butterfly Trap by Clea Simon

The God of the Wood by Liz Moore

 

New Books

 

The Rainfall Market by You Yeong-Gwang, Slin Jung (Translator)

The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen by Yuta Takahashi, Cat Anderson (Translator)

Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World by John Vaillant

The Vanishing Kind (Alex Carter, #4) by Alice Henderson

The Sinners All Bow: Two Authors, One Murder, and the Real Hester Prynne by Kate Winkler Dawson

The Girl from Greenwich Street by Lauren Willig

Daughter of Daring: The Trick-Riding, Train-Leaping, Road-Racing Life of Helen Gibson, Hollywood’s First Stuntwoman by Mallory O'Meara

Nevermore: Soul of an Octopus, One of Us Is Lying, Girl Called Samson

 

Reported by Garry

 

Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery – A favorite of our Nevermore group, this book follows Montgomery as she travels the world learning about the variety and astounding nature of these eight armed creatures. Highly intelligent, able to teach each other, and capable of changing not only the color but texture of their skin, octopuses are amazing creatures that are seem out of this worldly alien when compared with humans. Our reader loved this slim volume, and many of our group heartily recommend it.  KM

 

One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus. Labelled as The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars, this murder mystery revolves around five high-school students: Bronwyn, Addy, Nate, Cooper, and Simon who are all in detention for various reasons. One winds up dead, and suspicion quickly falls on the remaining four students, whose lives are far more intertwined than initially apparent, with secrets to kill (or die) for. This YA novel delivers excitement and thrills, and comes highly recommended by our reader.  MP

 

A Girl Called Samson by Amy Harmon is a historical novel based in Massachusetts in the 1760s. Deborah Samson is bound out as an indentured servant when she is still a young girl, and when the US Civil War breaks out, she escapes, disguises herself as a man, and joins the Continental army. Facing the horrors of war and revolution, Deborah (who used her last name as her first), also discovers love and truths about herself. Fictionalized from real-life events, this novel captured our reader’s imagination and made her value the lives and contributions of women of the era even more.  AH

 

Also Mentioned:

 

Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro

Monticello: A Daughter and Her Father by Sally Cabot Gunning

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty

Hugh Glass by Bruce Bradley

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

Clay's Quilt by Silas House

The Magic Kingdom by Russell Banks

The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman

Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky

Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World by Malcolm Harris

Smithsonian American Table: The Foods, People and Innovations That Feed Us by The Smithsonian Institution

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan

Empress of the Nile: The Daredevil Archaeologist Who Saved Egypt's Ancient Temples from Destruction by Lynne Olson

Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder

The House Is On Fire by Rachel Beanland

Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash

 

New books:

 

The Golden Doves by Martha Hall Kelly

The Dutch Orphan by Ellen Keith

The Cuban Heiress by Chanel Cleeton

Things I Wish I Told My Mother by Susan Patterson and Susan DiLallo with James Patterson

Fellowship Point by Alice Elliot Dark

Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues by Jonathan Kennedy

Nevermore: Patrimony, Jezebel, Unknown Beloved

 

Reported by Garry

 

Following up on last week’s Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern, Patrimony: A True Story by Philip Roth is another book about the relationship between fathers and sons. In this memoir, Roth recounts the time he spent with his 86-year-old father, Herman, as the elder Roth fought, and ultimately lost, a battle with brain cancer. Roth’s father, a vibrant, charming, brilliant man, was raised in Newark and had an encyclopedic knowledge of the many families of the Jewish immigrants who formed the backbone of the Newark community. Initially diagnosed as benign, Herman’s tumor turned out to be anything but. Philip accompanied his father through all the medical tests and treatments he faced during the years of his decline, experiences he unflinchingly records and dissects in this award-winning memoir.  PC

 

Jezebel by K. Larsen. This thriller features a plot that can best be described as Hitchcockian and is best not spoiled, besides the fact that no one is who they appear to be and little to nothing is as it seems. Our reader was blown away by how the threads of the various characters wove together over both time and space and very highly recommends this exceptionally well written novel of murder, betrayal, and hidden identities.  SH

 

The Unknown Beloved is a mash-up of romance, historical fiction, and murder mystery. Written by best-selling author Amy Harmon, the story is set in Chicago and Cleveland in the first half of the last century. Ten-year-old Dani Flanagan arrives home and finds her parents brutally murdered. Michael Malone, the patrolman on the case, is told by his superiors to keep his mouth shut and the case goes cold for more than fifteen years. Then, Malone is summoned to Cleveland, Ohio to solve a series of murders and encounters Dani again, and quickly realizes that Dani has a special “gift” that could help him catch the killer before he strikes again. Our reader says that this book is so well-written that she could not put it down, and read it in one sitting.  ML

 

 

Also mentioned: 

 

The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson

Fears of a Setting Sun: The Disillusionment of America’s Founders by Dennis C. Rasmussen

The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow

A Daughter of the Land by Gene Stratton-Porter

A Narrow Door by Joanne Harris

A Dance for Emilia by Peter S. Beagle

No One Noticed the Cat by Anne McCaffrey

Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys: The Big Lie by Anthony Del Col

Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys: The Death of Nancy Drew by Anthony Del Col

Nevermore: Democracy, James Baldwin, Owen Meany, Elizabeth Strout, Patricia Harmon, Anthony Doerr

Reported by Ambrea

This week, Nevermore started out their conversation with a work of nonfiction titled How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt.  Both Professors of Government at Harvard University, Levitsky and Ziblatt have long studied democracy and government in Latin America and Europe, respectively.  In their latest book, they take a long hard look at the breakdown of democracies across the world and give examples of how these governments have slowly slipped into authoritarianism—and how America can avoid the same fate.  Our reader shared How Democracies Die, saying it was an “interesting, insightful book.”  She noted it’s a bit on the short side, but it’s very easy to read and very enjoyable.  She recommended it highly to her fellow readers who enjoy a little side of politics with their history and government studies.

Next, Nevermore checked out Go Tell It on the Mountain, a compelling and emotionally charged novel by James Baldwin.  Semi-autobiographical, Go Tell It on the Mountain is a story featuring the life of John Grimes:  a young black man living in Harlem during the 1930s, who is merely trying to survive within the shadow of his violent, religiously fanatical stepfather.  Our reader stated Baldwin’s novel was “absolutely fantastic.”  After reading several of Baldwin’s other works, she picked up Go Tell It on the Mountain and she was thrilled by it.  “[It was] very good, very interesting,” she told her fellow Nevermore members.  “It is truly worth reading.”

Nevermore also checked out a couple of books from the library’s other book clubs:  All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr and A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving.  In All the Light We Cannot See, which was read by the BPL Book Club, Marie-Laure is a blind girl who lives in the seaside city of Saint-Malo and Werner Pfennig is a German soldier, a radio operator for the occupying Nazi force.  After an attack on the city, their paths cross in unexpected ways as they struggle to survive the carnage of World War II.  Our reader said she thought it was a good book, “but I didn’t like the way it was put together.”  She was enchanted by the story and she thought the characters were very well developed, but she wasn’t a fan of how time seemed to jump back and forth throughout the book.

In A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Wheelright becomes friends with a boy named Owen Meany.  Small, highly intelligent and possessing a “wrecked voice,” as the narrator states, Owen has an unusual story that John Wheelright feels compelled to recount—from the day Owen strikes a foul ball and kills John’s mother to the day he becomes “God’s instrument” in the most unexpected way.  Our reader has read John Irving’s novels in the past and she found A Prayer for Owen Meany to be an interesting addition to her list.  “It’s very moving,” she said, “but sort of tragic.”  She liked it overall, but she did admit to having some reservations.  She recommended it as a good novel, just perhaps not the best that Irvin has written.

Next, Nevermore stepped back into World War II with Once a Midwife by Patricia Harman.  In this novel, readers return to Hope River (a series by the same name) with Patience Hester, a trusted midwife who has helped her small town throughout the Great Depression.  But, with the United States poised on the precipice of joining a new war, Patience must find a way to support her family and fight for her husband who refused to return to war.  Our reader said she was quite pleased with Harman’s novel.  “It’s quite an evocative book,” she told Nevermore.  Moreover, it was interesting because it offered insight into the experience of rural, Appalachian towns and African Americans during World War II.  She continued, saying, “It’s a very neat little book.”  She highly recommended it to readers looking for something light and sweet to enjoy.

Last, Nevermore shared Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout, which features a series of interconnected stories and returns with one of her most beloved heroines, Lucy Barton from My Name is Lucy Barton.  Our reader, who enjoyed Olive Kitteridge, picked up Strout’s latest book and quickly fell in love with it.  She has been switching between reading the book and listening to the audiobook, which she said has enriched her experience.  Overall, she has found the book to be a wonderful recreation of the human experience and she highly recommended it to all of her fellow readers, especially those who have already enjoyed Strout’s previous works.