New in September!

 

September Fiction 

There are a LOT of new books due out in September, including a many big name authors like Jodi Picoult, John Grisham, James Patterson, John Green, Danielle Steel, Jeneva Rose, James Patterson, Alice Hoffman, Chloe Benjamin, James Patterson, Emily St. John Mandel, Alexander McCall Smith, and James Patterson.

Staff members are especially looking forward to books by Sarah Addison Allen, John Green, Chloe Benjamin, and Richar Osman.  Whatever genre you read, there is probably a new book for you in this list!

Adler-Olsen, Jussi  No Song for the Dead (Dept. Q)

Alderman, Naomi  The Strangers

Alexander, Tasha  Murder on the Sacred River  (Lady Emily Mystery)

Allen, Sarah Addison  Paper Ghosts

Bardugo, Leigh Dead Beat (9^th House)

Barrett, Lorna   A Critical Conjunction                           

Benjamin, Chloe Under Story

Bentley, Don Double Tap:  A Mitch Rapp Novel

Cahn, Jonathan  The Altar of Pergamon: the Mystery of the Dark Angel & the Future of the World

Cleeves, Ann The Dying Light (Matthew Venn)

Cline, Emma Switzy

Diaz, Hernan  Ply

Due, Tananarive  Mazywood

Foley, Lucy  Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel: The New Miss Marple Mystery

Francis, Felix  The Chase: A Dick Francis Novel

Green, John  Hollywood Ending

Grisham, John  The French Illusion

Hale, Shannon  Christmas in Austenland

Harris, Robert  Agrippa: A Novel of Ancient Rome’s Descent into Dictatorship

Hoffman, Alice  The Witches of Cambridge

Ishida, Syou  Welcome to the Kokoro Cat Clinic (We’ll Prescribe You a Cat)

King, Laurie R. Those Who Are Gone (Raquel Laing)

Koryta, Michael  Die Famous

Kuang, R.F. Taipei Story

Lawhon, Ariel  The Pirate Queen

Lee, Min Jin  American Hagwon

Mackintosh, Clare It’s Not What You Think

Mandel, Emily St. John Exit Party

Mason, Meg  Sophie, Standing There

McCall Smith, Alexander  The Big Cats Dance Party (No. 1 Ladies

Michaels, Fern A Season of Secrets

Mizushima, Margaret Fighting Edge (Timber Creek K-9)

MrBeast and James Patterson  The Most Dangerous Games

Osman, Richard We Chase Shadows (We Solve Murders)

Patterson, James  The Munich Affair

Peters, Amanda  The Birthing Tree

Picoult, Jodi Hollow Bones

Robb, J.D.  Fury in Death

Rose, Jeneva Sometimes I Scare Myself:  A Collection of Horror

Snelling, Lauraine  Fair Are the Meadows (Home to Green Creek)

Steel, Danielle Ruthless

Stewart, Jack  Tom Clancy Pressure Depth (Jack Ryan, Jr.)

Nevermore: In the Fields of Fatherless Children, 10% Happier, Son of Nobody

 

Nevermore 5-12-26                          Reported by Rita

 

In the Fields of Fatherless Children by Pamela Steele

In late 1960s Appalachia, many things loom darkly over June the Vietnam War is dividing the country, and a strip mine is eating away the mountain at the head of the holler where she lives, threatening the natural landscape and the only way of life she has ever known. While still in high school, June has fallen in love. She is pregnant, and the father may be Ellis Akers. Ellis is the son of Solomon, a mortal enemy of June’s stepfather, Isom. The feud is so old it fuels two vengeful men with the power of long animosity between rival families. June’s brother, Tom, leaves to enlist in the war, and so does Ellis. Suddenly, June is on her own, at sixteen with a newborn, and is a mother unable to protect her daughter from the wrath of Isom. Without warning, her baby is kidnapped. Guided by her love for the generations of women before her, but now desperately alone, June must carefully navigate the search for her child alongside family and strangers in a wild and disappearing landscape.

It's very descriptive and the setting is great. I really enjoyed it.      -MS     5 stars

 

10% Happier by Dan Harris

After having a nationally televised panic attack, Dan Harris knew he had to make some changes. A lifelong nonbeliever, he found himself on a bizarre adventure involving a disgraced pastor, a mysterious self-help guru, and a gaggle of brain scientists. Eventually, Harris realized that the source of his problems was the very thing he always thought was his greatest asset: the incessant, insatiable voice in his head, which had propelled him through the ranks of a hypercompetitive business, but had also led him to make the profoundly stupid decisions that provoked his on-air freak-out. Eventually Harris stumbled upon an effective way to rein in that voice, something he always assumed to be either impossible or useless: meditation, a tool that research suggests can do everything from lower your blood pressure to essentially rewire your brain. "10% Happier" takes readers on a ride from the outer reaches of neuroscience to the inner sanctum of network news to the bizarre fringes of America's spiritual scene, and leaves them with a takeaway that could actually change their lives.

I found this book to be very informative. I recommend it.      -KM       4 stars

 

Son of Nobody by Yann Martel

Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey were not the only ancient tales of the Trojan War. In Son of Nobody, Yann Martel composes a new the Psoad, an epic in free verse that follows a goatherd’s son, Psoas of Midea, who leaves his wife and family to fight at Troy. Psoas meets his doom and the poem of his life is lost—until a Canadian academic studying at Oxford, Harlow Donne, discovers its relics thirty centuries later. As Harlow assembles and comments on the fragments in footnotes, he retrieves memories of his wife and daughter and grapples with questions of ambition, family, and responsibility in both the ancient and modern worlds.

Profound - I loved it!      -DC       5 stars

 

 

Other Books Mentioned

 

Poor by Katriona O'Sullivan

Across the Plains in 1884 by Catherine Sager

We the Women by Norah O'Donnell

Gutsy Women by Hillary Clinton & Chelsea Clinton

Keeper of Lost Children by Sadeqa Johnson

Toxic Designs by Kristi Holl

North of Ordinary by Sue Aikens

 

 

New Books

 

Cat on a Hot Tin Woof by Spencer Quinn

The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon

Starry and Restless by Julia Cooke

Nevermore: Night Watch, Ornithography, Conclave

Reported by Rita

Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips

In 1874, in the wake of the War, erasure, trauma, and namelessness haunt civilians and veterans, renegades and wanderers, freedmen and runaways. Twelve-year-old ConaLee, the adult in her family for as long as she can remember, finds herself on a buckboard journey with her mother, Eliza, who hasn’t spoken in more than a year. They arrive at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in West Virginia, delivered to the hospital’s entrance by a war veteran who has forced himself into their world. There, far from family, a beloved neighbor, and the mountain home they knew, they try to reclaim their lives.

Excellent! Beautifully written with well-formed characters. A real page-turner.     -KN      5 stars

Ornithography: An Illustrated Guide to Bird Lore & Symbolism by Jessica Roux

In Jessica Roux’s Ornithography, each of 100 entries focuses on one bird species, featuring a full-page color illustration in her detailed, darkly romantic style, and the lore behind each bird.

This is an easy read with gorgeous illustrations. I found the mythology of birds very interesting.     - KM      4 stars

 

Conclave by Robert Harris

The Pope is dead. Behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, one hundred and eighteen cardinals from all over the globe will cast their votes in the world’s most secretive election. They are holy men. But they have ambition. And they have rivals. Over the next seventy-two hours, one of them will become the most powerful spiritual figure on earth.

This was a quick, easy read with a surprise ending. It gave great insight into the Catholic church.     - GP      5 stars

 

Other Books Mentioned

 

River of No Return: Tennessee Ernie Ford and the Woman He Loved by Jeffrey Buckner Ford

Stars in Their Courses: The Gettysburg Campaign, June-July 1863 by Shelby Foote

Life in the Coal Camps of Wise County by Brian D. McKnight

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

How They Croaked by Georgia Bragg

The Gates of Evangeline by Hester Young

The Seamstress by Allison Pittman

 

New Books

 

Raising Demons by Shirley Jackson

Change the Recipe by Jose Andres

The Eights by Joanna Miller

Waiting for the Long Night Moon by Amanda Peters

Nevermore: Crime and Punishment, Everything is Tuberculosis, King of the North

 

Nevermore Book Club readers enjoy a wide variety of books, old and new, fiction and non-fiction. Here are some of the books recommended from a recent meeting:

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a classic of Russian literature for good reason.  The protagonist, Raskolnikov, is mired in poverty as is his family.  He sees others suffering as well, and who are forced to pawn their possessions to survive.  Roskolnikov convinces himself that by murdering the pawnbroker and stealing her money, he can save his family and perform great acts of public service; that such a deed would not be a true crime because it would serve the greater good. Afterwards, however, he struggles with his conscience even as he tries to help others. Our reviewer thought it was a magnificent book and feels everyone should read it.

Everything is Tuberculosis is by John Green, best known as the Young Adult author of such best-sellers as The Fault in Our Stars.  Green began researching TB after meeting young patient Henry Reider in Sierra Leone who had contracted a drug-resistant form of the disease.  Green gives a history of TB, which once ravaged all of Europe and had a lasting impact on the culture of the time, while he chronicles the efforts to save Henry’s life.  Our reader found the book fascinating, informative, and recommends it to everyone.

King of the North:  Martin Luther King’s Life of Struggle Outside the South by Jeanne Theoharis examines the often overlooked time King spent in the Northeast, starting when he was a student in Boston.  While King’s work to combat racism in the South is well documented, the same work in the North has been minimized.  Our reader was impressed with the attention played to Coretta Scott, later King, who was also a student in Boston at the time. Although she hasn’t quite finished with the book, she recommends it highly.

Conclave by Robert Harris is a fictional account of the election of a new pope.  Cardinal Lomeli is charged with managing the Conclave while facing his own crisis of faith.  He becomes aware of a rumor that one of the cardinals actually had been dismissed from his duties just hours before the Pope’s death, something the cardinal emphatically denies. It falls to Lomeli to try to uncover the truth.  The book was the basis for the Oscar nominated movie of the same name, and the reviewer said the film was an excellent adaptation.

Library Mystery Series

 In honor of National Library Week, here are some popular mystery series with libraries and librarians!

The Unkindness of Ravens by M.E. Hilliard Librarian Greer Hogan matches wits with a deviously clever killer in a chilling series debut. First in the Greer Hogan series.

A Murder for the Books by Victoria Gilbert:  Librarian Amy Webber must archive overdue crimes and deadly rumors before a killer strikes again in her new Virginia home in Victoria Gilbert’s charming series debut.  First in the Blue Ridge Library mystery series.

Murder Past Due by Miranda James: A famous author returns to his hometown and is murdered. It's up to Charlie Harris, the town's librarian, and his cat Diesel, to find the killer before the wrong person is arrested for the crime. The trouble is, every last one of Charlie's friends and coworkers had a score to settle with the novelist. First in the Cat in the Stacks mysteries.

Curiousity Thrilled the Cat by Sofie Kelly:  Small-town librarian Kathleen Paulson discovers that the two stray cats she has taken in--Owen and Hercules--are truly special when she, the prime suspect in a murder, gets some unexpected feline help in solving the crime and clearing her name. First in the Magical Cats series.

Miss Zukas and the Library Murders by Jo Dereske:  Librarian Helma Zukas and her friend Ruth, a six foot tall bohemian artist, investigating a dead body in the library’s fiction stacks. First in the Miss Zukas series.

Real Murders by Charlaine Harris: Roe Teagarden joins forces with police detective Arthur Smith and mystery writer Robin Crusoe to investigate a series of killings in which the victims are slain in the fashion of famous historical murders. First in the Aurora Teagarden Mystery series.

By Book or By Crook by Eve Gates: After her ten-year relationship implodes, Lucy escapes to the Outer Banks to heal and finds her dream job at a lighthouse library on Bodie Island, until a theft and a murder ensnares Lucy in a real-life mystery. This is the first in the series of Lighthouse Library mysteries.

Nevermore: Haven, No Impact Man, 10% Happier

 

Reported by Garry

 

Haven by Emma Donoghue has been a very popular book with our readers. Two of our regulars had a discussion about it this week, and spoke about how the main character was a delusional despot who ran the monastery like a cult. Following a vision he had in a dream, the prior recruits two disciples and heads out to sea in a small boat with no destination in mind except to find a rock in the ocean upon which to build a retreat dedicated to God. Surprisingly they didn’t die on the voyage and came to what is now called Skellig Michael – a hostile shard of rock off the coast of Ireland, where the three of them built a chapel and a kind of life for themselves against all odds. This book has proven to be very thought provoking and has deeply touched a number of our readers.  NH and CD

 

No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes about Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process by Colin Beavan. Would you want to live on a dying planet and hand its problems on to your children? That is the question that Colin Beavan decided to answer with a resounding “No”. For a year, Beavan, his wife, 2-year-old daughter and dog attempt to live in Manhattan as eco-consciously as possible: no fossil fuels, sustainable energy, local, organic foods. The resulting journey is heartwarming, hilarious, and thought provoking. Our reader was especially surprised how relevant this book is now, considering it was written in 2006.  PP

 

10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works: A True Story by Dan Harris somewhat follows the same theme of No Impact Man – You are unhappy with your life: What do you do about it? In this case Dan Harris, a correspondent for ABC News and co-anchor of Good Morning America, was an over-achieving, over-stressed type-A personality who, after an on-air panic attack, took a step back to look at his life, what forces led him to where he was, and what he could do about it. Eventually, he stumbled across meditation – a practice that he had earlier dismissed as mere navel-gazing. Our reader found that this memoir which delves into the science of meditation and explains Harr’s journey and struggles with the practice, is one of the most accessible, practical books on mediation that she has read.  PP

 

Also mentioned: 

 

The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy

Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton

Properties of Thirst by Marianne Wiggins

Stalking the Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons

The Story of Becoming Piney Flats by Robert Sorrell

Good Medicine, Hard Times: Memoir of a Combat Physician in Iraq by Edward P. Horvath, MD

Quite a Year for Plums by Bailey White

Book Lovers by Emily Henry

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Nevermore: Best of Me, How We Do Harm, Brazen, Girl with No Shadow, Last Days of the Dinosaurs

Nevermore June 21, 2022

 

The Best of Me by David Sedaris is a hilarious, biting, and deeply insightful look at the development of Sedaris’ writing, spanning 25 years. This collection of essays, chosen by Sedaris as his “greatest hits” volume was loved by our reader who pointed out not only how funny Sedaris is in his exceptionally clear-eyed examinations of the absurdities of every-day life, but his bravery is laying himself bare - his ups and downs, victories and defeats, all for public consumption.  CD

 

How We Do Harm: A Doctor Breaks Ranks about Being Sick in America by Dr. Otis Webb Brawley. This searing exposé by the head of the American Cancer Society takes an unflinching look at the current state of healthcare in America and the conflicts and hypocrisies that prevent the vast majority of Americans from receiving proper medical care. Crawley calls for rational healthcare, healthcare drawn from results-based, scientifically justifiable treatments, and not just the peddling of hot new drugs. Our reader was at turns frustrated and amazed by this book – frustrated by the way that the medical system is driven by money, to the detriment of the patients, and amazed by the insight and forceful, thoughtful arguments for change that Dr. Brawley sets forth.  CD

 

Brazen: My Unorthodox Journey from Long Sleeves to Lingerie by Julia Haart is a memoir by the head of one of the world’s largest talent agencies tracing her escape from an extremist ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect of New York to become a world famous shoe designer, to the head of the Elite World Group. Our reader was shocked and repulsed by the level of control forced upon Haart and her children, but was also inspired by Haart’s relentless pursuit of personal freedom and self-actualization even when faced with being shunned from the family and community that had been her entire world.  NH

 

The Girl with No Shadow is the second book in the Chocolat series by Joanne Harris. Magic, deception, chocolate, and winter in Paris all come together in the tale as Vianne Rocher wanders from Lansquenet-sous-Tannes (the location of Chocolat) to the wind-blown streets of Paris. Vianne has set up a new chocolaterie but is unhappy and feeling stagnant. The shop is not doing well, her daughter Anouk, is being bullied in school, and depressed Vianne no longer wishes to make high-quality chocolates. Into their lives comes vibrant, vivacious Zozie de L’Alba who starts to turn their lives around. But at what cost? Our reader, who loves magical realism novels, says that Joanne Harris is her new favorite author and highly recommends this book and the others in the Chocolat series.  MH

 

The Last Days of the Dinosaurs: An Asteroid, Extinction, and the Beginning of Our World by Riley Black is a fascinating look at what the latest science tells us happened to the dinosaurs and how their disappearance affected all other existing and emerging species in the days, years, and millennia after the dinosaurs’ extinction. 66 million years ago, a 6-mile wide asteroid travelling at 44,700 miles per hour slammed into the Earth in what is now Chixulub, Mexico, leaving a crater over 110 miles wide and 12 miles deep. The shockwave and super-heated air blasted the atmosphere with hundreds of billions of tons of sulphur, dust, rock and debris, instantly setting fire to the land for thousands of miles in every direction and creating oceanic waves more than a mile tall. The blast produced a world-wide blackout and freezing temperatures that lasted at least a decade, and overnight wiped out nearly half of all life on Earth. The resulting changes allowed for the evolution of mammals and avians (birds) as well as thousands of other species that had been stifled by the dominance of the dinosaurs for over 100 million years.

 

Also mentioned:

 

Open Season by C.J. Box

LGBTQ Fiction and Poetry from Appalachia by Jeff Mann and Julia Watts

The Lawless Land by Boyd and Beth Morrison

The Book Woman’s Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson

About Grace by Anthony Doerr

The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth

Child Zero by Chris Holm

A Spy in Plain Sight: The Inside Story of the FBI and Robert Hanssen—America’s Most Damaging Russian Spy by Lis Wiehl

Meet Me in the Margins by Melissa Ferguson

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert